Emily Bader may not be a morning person, but for Coach, she’ll set the alarm (and dunk her face in ice) without complaint.
It’s New York Fashion Week, and the actress—fresh off the breakout success of My Lady Jane and the buzzy Netflix adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation—is firmly in her leading-lady era, both on screen and in the front row. For the Coach fall/winter 2026 show, Bader arrived with that distinctly downtown ease. Polished but never precious. Cool but in on the joke.
Coach has long perfected the high-low tension between heritage and a little rebellion, and this season leaned all the way in. Think butter-soft leather outerwear, slouchy carryalls, and outerwear with a touch of moto attitude. Bader was especially struck by the drama of it all. “There’s something nostalgic about Coach,” she told Who What Wear while getting ready at her downtown hotel. “It feels very American, very cinematic—but still playful. You can make it your own.”
Her own look nodded to that same effortless edge. A super-low-rise black denim skirt with a flirty back slit, a cropped white Coach tank, slingback heels, and an open leather blazer struck the balance between daring and undone. The inspiration: ’90s Carolyn Bessette chicness—with a little downtown bite.
If her recent roles have proven anything, it’s that Bader understands transformation. On this particular afternoon, her character study was equal parts ingénue and edge—exactly the kind of modern heroine Coach dresses so well. Below, we caught up with Bader in her lead-up to the Coach fall/winter 2026 show.
Do you have any pre-show routine or rituals?
I don’t have any real rituals at this point except for maybe dunking my face in a bucket of ice. It’s safe to say I’m not a morning person, so ice initially helped with that, but now it feels like an anytime thing.
Did you have a favorite look from the Coach fall/winter 2026 collection? The piece you want in your closet immediately?
My favorite look from the collection was this red fur-lined suede coat, open, exposing the model’s body with a very cool low-rise brown pant. There’s something rock and roll about it, and it definitely left an impression on the runway. I was most excited by the collection’s eruption into color through the show. The clothes started in this dark color scheme where it almost felt like a black-and-white movie. And then the color turned on.
My front-row essentials are gum (the seats are so close together, and you never know who you’re going to talk to) and a charged-up cell phone. My phone is nearly dead constantly, so it takes a real effort to make sure she’s nice and charged. I’m always stunned by the buildings these shows are in. And I must get a picture for the archives.
If this New York fashion week had a soundtrack, what would be playing?
If this New York fashion week had a soundtrack it would be the 24-hour YouTube loop of the wood burning fireplace. Or Led Zeppelin IV.
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