This month, the footwear company debuts its first luggage products in both carry-on and checked bag sizes. It’s also rolling out a new GrandPrø Packwell Sneaker that’s easier to pack and condense, thanks to its unlined construction. Finally, Cole Haan is establishing more stores in markets popular with tourists, including Boston and Orlando, Florida.
This isn’t Cole Haan’s first foray into travel; the brand has sold duffle bags, backpacks and other travel accessories for decades. But the company is now ramping up its offerings as it works to establish itself as a modern lifestyle brand attuned to the post-pandemic era. Cole Haan’s customers want products that perform in all types of settings, from office meetings to dinners — an ethos the brand has described as “nine to five and five to nine.” Now, Cole Haan wants to bring that same versatility to travel products.
“Our target customer, even as it has fluxed over the years, has really over-indexed in travel,” Jeanine Farucci, vp of global brand marketing at Cole Haan, said in an interview. “[Travel] has really become an organic part of how they live and work. As we dive further into expanding what the Cole Haan lifestyle feels like, travel is an essential component of that. … The goal is really to play a bigger part in that travel market by creating a more robust ecosystem of what we can offer.”
