Champion of Courageous Self-Expression

Coach x WNBA

In April of 2025 Coach became an official partner of the WNBA, making it the first luxury handbag company to engage with the league and its incredibly enthusiastic and committed fanbase. From a strategic and messaging standpoint, the partnership gave us the perfect opportunity to take Coach’s grounding purpose, the Courage to Be Real, and show how the power of self-expression could extend far past the traditional fashion sphere and into the world of sport.

With ‘Champion of Courageous Self-Expression,’ we brought two of our brand pillars (courage and self-expression) together with the idea of the a ‘champion,’ both in the context of a winner in the athletic arena, and as someone who advocates for and ideal. The designation applies to both Coach the brand, and to the athletes we have since endorsed in the WNBA and beyond—starting with five rookie players who entered the league this year: Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith, Kiki Iriafen, Aneesah Morrow and Sonia Citron.

In amplifying the stories of these five players, we were also able to dig deeper into what exactly self-expression means to female athletes, who often endure judgment on all sides—for being too masculine and uninterested in fashion, for being too feminine and not serious about sport—in ways their male counterparts are almost never criticized. We introduced these rookie players with a compilation film featuring their responses to our questions, as well as individual cuts for each athlete to share on their channels.

Following the partnership announcement and the player profiles above, we’ve been able to tailor the messaging around Coach x WNBA to a calendar of key moments throughout the league’s year.

The WNBA Draft was an opportunity to introduce our five rookies on the W’s Orange Carpet and with individual GRWM films, amping up our fashion quotient (“draft day has never looked this good”). At this year’s All-Star Weekend, the focus was on self-expression through community, with a dedicated activation for fans and players alike outside the arena (“icons recognizing icons”). Coach was also a presenting partner in the league’s annual Pride Is Love series, where we helped to script a series of questions for an interview with Brittney Griner and her partner Cherelle.