Ballroom Icons, 'Legendary' Cast Front New Coach Campaign

Off the back of the debut season of HBO Max's Legendary, a few members of the ballroom scene are fronting a new campaign for Coach. Billed as the House of Gorgeous, the group comprises a bit of Jack Mizrahi Gucci's chosen family within the scene, and quite a number of stars.

Gucci himself is an almost 30 year veteran of ballroom and has helped, possibly more than any other living person, push the community to the forefront. Most recently, he served as co-executive producer on Legendary ideating the balls of each episode, but in the next season of Pose (on which he plays a role) functions as a staff writer. Gucci, who was a founding member of Mizrahi but went on to open the Gorgeous House of Gucci in late 2019, appears as the lead in the ad with the rest of the community being described as his family. He has had a relationship with Coach over the past few years, having worked with the fashion label on events, worn their pieces to ball, and more.

For this spread the House of Gorgeous -- which is not a house that walks within the community but is a public-facing organization composed of community members from different houses -- includes Legendary cast members like Eyricka Lanvin, Jarrell Gucci, and Honey Balenciaga. But there's more: Sinia Alaia, Whitney Garcon, Veronika Miyake-Mugler, Asia West, Chris Gucci, Rio St. Laurent, and Karina Revlon are also in the cast.

"At this moment, it feels important to re-examine our values," Coach Creative Director Stuart Vevers said in a release. "To me, fashion at its best has always been about community, creativity, and building lasting relationships. I am proud to share stories with our Coach Family about the people that matter most in their lives -- relationships that are authentic and timeless." And it certainly does seem that Coach is interested in building a lasting relationship with the community.

In addition to their work with Jack Gucci in the past -- he once cast his House of Gorgeous members to perform at Lincoln Center in collaboration with Coach -- they've also worked with Sinia Alaia. An icon of the ballroom scene, Alaia appeared in a video campaign for the brand during Pride season that also featured Bob the Drag Queen, Rickey Thompson, and more. As a part of that campaign, she told the story of her coming out.

In addition to the ballroom scene, Coach also cast model and photographer Richie Shazam alongside their roommate Julia Fox for the campaign. Photographers like Alessandro Simonetti, Hao Zeng, Ryan McGinley, and more shot the project.

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