Coachtopia: Behind The Scenes Campaign
One spring morning in 2023, RIOT was called upon by Coach to capture raw, electric, unfiltered moments amidst the whirlwind of a high-energy campaign shoot. The mission? To document Coachtopia, Coach’s audacious leap into a circular fashion future, through behind-the-scenes footage, intimate portraits, and unfiltered interviews with the talent shaping this movement.
Sixteen different sets sprawled across Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, NY. Ten dynamic creatives—designers, activists, and artists—woven into the DNA of Coachtopia. A schedule tighter than a New York subway at rush hour. And us? We were there to catch lightning in a bottle, with cameras rolling and instincts razor-sharp.
The Art of Controlled Chaos
There was no time carved out for behind-the-scenes content. No dedicated slots for interviews. No neatly arranged moments for us to swoop in and get the perfect shot. So, we made time. We moved like shadows through the production, anticipating moments before they happened, pulling talent aside in stolen seconds between takes, even capturing one interview while walking from set to set.
Adrian Nina’s photo of us chatting and shooting our interview with Coach handbag designer Trey Denis.
We operated in two modes: one team embedded within the madness, threading through the chaos to capture the energy and movement of the campaign in real time. The other, a roving unit, pulling people aside, engaging them in conversation, and distilling their stories into powerful portraiture. What came out of it was a living, breathing snapshot of the Coachtopia movement itself.
The Voices of Coachtopia
At the heart of Coachtopia are the voices of those shaping its future. We weren’t just documenting a campaign; we were capturing a cultural shift, a new generation of creators, activists, and designers who see sustainability not as an afterthought but as the foundation.
The Activists: The Pulse of Change
Caulin, better known as Trash Caulin, moves through the world with one mission—to educate, to shift perspectives, to clean up what’s been left behind. His words echo the ethos of Coachtopia: “This is the starting point to a never-ending loop. Taking what we already have and giving it new life.” Natalia, another voice in the movement, sees second-hand fashion as an act of defiance, a reclamation of style and sustainability.
Through their voices, Coachtopia becomes a statement. A refusal to let waste be the end of a product’s story.
The Designers: Architects of a Circular Future
For handbag designer Trey Denis, Coachtopia flips the narrative on what recycled fashion should look like. “People expect sustainability to mean earthy, muted, predictable. But here, it’s bold, unexpected. Circularity is the future.” Graphic designer Tyler McGovery takes it even further—every design choice, every detail of Coachtopia’s visuals is about breaking the mold of what sustainable fashion has traditionally been.
They aren’t just designing products. They’re redesigning perception.
The Creators: A New Generation Takes the Lead
Maya: The Cutting Edge of Circularity
For Maya, Coachtopia is about building a new creative ecosystem where sustainability is woven into the DNA of design. She sees this collaboration as a rare moment in fashion history, where a legacy brand is taking real steps forward.
“What makes Coachtopia unique,” she explains, “is that they’re really taking the time to collaborate with us—the next generation of artists, activists, and designers. They’re helping push the industry forward in ways that feel real.”
She’s fascinated by the scale of it all, by how a brand with this kind of legacy is implementing circularity in ways that are actually meaningful.
Lola Tung: Fashion with a Future
Lola Tung is more than just a voice in the sustainability movement—she’s a rising star with an undeniable presence. Best known for her role as Isabel ‘Belly’ Conklin in The Summer I Turned Pretty, the hit Prime Video series that captured the hearts of Gen Z, Lola has quickly become a cultural icon. She embodies a new generation that values creativity, authenticity, and impact. And now, she’s bringing that energy to Coachtopia.
For Lola, this campaign is about using her platform to push forward conversations that matter. “We are the ones growing up in this world,” she says. “We’re taking over. So it’s important that our voices shape what’s next.”
To Lola, circular fashion is more than just a buzzword—it’s a necessity. She loves the idea that sustainability and expression don’t have to be separate. “The commitment to circular fashion that’s still cool, still expressive, but isn’t hurting our home… that’s so important.”
She knows change doesn’t happen overnight, but she also knows that commitment is everything. “It can scare people sometimes,” she admits, “but this is the future. And it’s really cool to see Coach actually taking that step.”
Trash Caulin: Turning Waste into Opportunity
For Caulin, known to his followers as Trash Caulin, sustainability is an everyday mission. “Promoting circularity, picking up trash wherever we find it, shifting how people think about waste… that’s what I do.”
Coach first reached out to him last year with an idea about circularity. From the start, he knew this was something different. “The most exciting part of being in the Coachtopia community,” he explains, “is seeing how many different industries are coming together to tackle the same issue.”
He’s also energized by the power of Gen Z. “Our whole generation is coming together, shedding light on sustainability in ways people never thought about before.”
For him, Coachtopia is about giving new life to what’s already here. “It’s a never-ending loop. Taking things we already have and giving them new opportunities to be used over and over again.”
The best bit? Their words weren’t scripted or rehearsed. They were real and of the moment.
Crafting the Story in Motion
Four cameras. Six films. Three formats. Every moment we captured was about making people feel what was happening. From social-first storytelling to in-depth explorations of the movement, we built a behind the scenes campaign that extends far beyond the original shoot.
We created three mini-docs, each spotlighting one of Coachtopia’s key voices. We filmed two featurettes diving into the designers and activists who are redefining the industry. And we produced one highlight piece—an anthem, a manifesto, a collective declaration of what Coachtopia stands for.
Watch the films and see for yourself how Coachtopia is rewriting the rules of fashion, one loop at a time.
The RIOT Mentality: Thriving in the Mayhem
Some shoots are meticulously planned, every frame locked in before the first camera rolls. This wasn’t one of those shoots. This was controlled chaos at its finest—a battle against time, logistics, and unpredictability. And yet, it’s in the mayhem and chaos that creativity thrives.
This campaign is proof that when a brand dares to listen, to evolve, and to embrace circularity, something revolutionary happens.
Stay tuned for more Coachtopia content as we continue to capture the movement in motion.
