Coach’s AI-powered handbags take a swing at a fashion revolution

One of the most transformative trends in the fashion industry over the past decade has been the adoption of digital twin technology—virtual replicas of physical products that enhance the design and development cycle. Now, Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade New York, and Stuart Weitzman, is taking this transformation a step further by leveraging generative AI through Adobe Firefly to revolutionise its product design process.

Tapestry’s team's pivotal moment came when an early test of their Firefly Custom Model successfully generated digital twins that closely resembled existing store products. This breakthrough enabled the company to scale a crucial internal service, empowering teams to refine their creative processes and develop products that strongly align with consumer expectations.

J.J. Camara, senior director of digital product creation (DPC) at Tapestry told Campaign, that the Coach Product Development team initiated DPC over a decade ago, to test and learn how 3D capabilities could enhance current processes and ultimately, business outcomes.  This team now supports design and product development across its house of brands, researching and implementing new ways of working and advocating for the use of design technologies throughout the product development workflow.

Tapestry’s approach to generative AI is rooted in maintaining brand integrity while pushing creative boundaries. The company has trained Adobe Firefly using proprietary assets to create a customised model that ensures every AI-generated output aligns seamlessly with Coach’s established design language.

“We were purposefully looking for an AI tool that our designers could use to ideate on new and existing products while maintaining our brand codes,” Camara explained to Campaign. “A model that allows us to innovate while maintaining brand integrity is a crucial feature for any kind of AI design platform.”

This training process allows Firefly to recognise and incorporate Coach’s signature design elements—referred to as ‘Coach Codes’—such as the brand’s iconic hang tag, material nuances, and distinctive hardware. The result? AI-generated designs that are not only visually accurate but also deeply reflective of the brand’s identity.

Digital twin imaging: A decade in the making

While this may seem like a futuristic leap, Tapestry has been laying the groundwork for years. The initiation of the DPC more than 10 years ago was a step in that direction. Camara revealed, “This team was created to test and learn how 3D capabilities could enhance current processes and ultimately, business outcomes.”

At Tapestry, digital twins aren’t just tech jargon—they’re a creative game-changer. These virtual replicas aren’t gathering dust in a database; they’re actively shaping product strategies.

The DPC team now supports design and product development across Tapestry’s brands, researching and implementing new digital workflows. This longstanding commitment to digital innovation made it a natural progression to incorporate AI-generated digital twins into the process.

By integrating Firefly, Tapestry aims to replace these representations with photorealistic digital twins.

Digital twins have also made their way into focus groups, capturing feedback that directly influences design decisions. To supercharge marketing the strategy and global visual experience teams deploy them across everything from eye-catching social media content to immersive in-store displays.

But the magic doesn’t stop there. When paired with data science, these digital doppelgängers become powerful forecasting tools, helping teams make sharper calls on what to create, how to produce it, and where to sell it. By fine-tuning their customised models, Tapestry isn’t just keeping up with demand—it is trying to set the pace, ensuring that innovation and quality go hand in hand.

Addressing bottlenecks in scaling digital twins

Despite the benefits of digital twins, scaling them has presented challenges—particularly at the SKU level. Camara elaborated on this pain point.

“The SKU level includes every animation of a given style, including colour, material, and hardware variations. Once the line is developed, digital twins of these SKU-level assets need to be available for merchandising and line assortment in just a few weeks,” she added.

Previously, this could only be achieved using flat 2D CADs. However, by integrating Firefly, Tapestry aims to replace these static representations with photorealistic digital twins. This shift accelerates the product development timeline and enhances the accuracy of virtual prototypes, allowing designers to make more informed decisions faster.

An Adobe spokesperson told Campaign that the company’s generative AI capabilities are directly integrated into existing workflows and applications like Photoshop or Lightroom. “Since Firefly is safe for commercials use, providing confidence for brands to use it for production-ready content. Adobe also has a growing partner ecosystem that brings together our applications with industry-specific expertise, to ensure our suite of generative AI-powered solutions can be implemented effectively and meet specific needs,” they added.

Tapestry’s digital twins are not just aiding designers—they are restyling the way multiple teams operate across the company.

“Tapestry DPC’s philosophy is ‘Create once, use many,’” Camara shared. “By developing digital twins for the design and product development teams across all three brands, we have incredibly accurate assets for use cases throughout our business.”

In the past, the company has leveraged digital twins for its social media campaigns by digital artists for TikTok and Instagram Reels, enabling quick turnaround for visually striking campaigns. Its customer insights and focus groups create high-fidelity digital assets allow for early-stage consumer feedback without requiring costly physical prototypes. Similarly, digital twins have been used in unique ways in in-store merchandising and experiential marketing, from handbag-shaped cake pop molds to immersive pop-up store displays.

Investing in gen AI and digital twins

The rise of generative AI and digital twins is driven by the need for efficiency, cost reduction, and enhanced product quality. According to a McKinsey report, digital twin technologies enable brands to create better products faster while optimising R&D processes. The same report found that 75% of product development executives consider further digitisation a top priority.

The Adobe spokesperson reinforced this industry shift. “Generative AI allowed [Tapestry] to scale an in-demand internal service—which then enabled teams to better ideate and ultimately deliver products that resonate with customers.”

While the initial investment in generative AI and digital twins is substantial, the long-term benefits outweigh the costs. Brands that integrate these technologies effectively see improved product accuracy, faster design iterations, and reduced material waste.

“Brands in the space are seeing a lot of value from digital twins in shaping how they develop and get products to market,” according to Adobe. “And to meet the demand for digital twins internally, brands are relying on technology partners like Adobe to scale.”

Ensuring AI maintains brand identity

One of the biggest concerns around AI-generated designs is ensuring they remain true to a brand’s identity while maintaining high-quality outputs. Adobe Firefly addresses this challenge through its fine-tuning process.

“We developed the technology where 15 to 30 high-quality images can be used to fine-tune our Adobe Firefly text-to-image model,” the Adobe spokesperson explained. “And Tapestry is showing results that are high quality and align with their ‘Coach Codes.’”

With generative AI becoming integral to product development, does this indicate a shift away from human creativity? Camara firmly believes that AI is a tool, not a replacement for designers.

“AI will never be a creative driver at Tapestry,” he stated. “We see it as a co-pilot, supporting streamlined product design and testing, as well as gathering insights and data that help us make better-informed decisions about how we create, make, and sell our products.”

As generative AI continues to evolve, companies like Tapestry are proving that technology and human creativity can coexist—enhancing, rather than replacing, the artistry behind fashion design.