Baseball is undeniably a pastime definitive of our national culture. Emblematic of victory, our country’s history, and the enthusiastic pride we take in athletic competition, the baseball glove itself serves as an American sports icon.
I am by no means your classic sports enthusiast, but I appreciate the culture rooted in athleticism – abundant with fan excitement, team camaraderie, and memories of the game that we all take away with us. Although the extent of my participation at a baseball game merely reaches the edges of the sidelines, I have worn a baseball glove before for an amateur game of catch, as I’m sure we all have at some point in our lives. We’ve all slipped our fingers through the mitt’s opening, as our bare skin grazes its firm leather, to throw ball with a friend or family member. And while my interaction with baseball gloves was rare growing up, the athletic staple recently introduced itself into my life – in a rather inventive and fashionable way.
Wandering through SoHo one afternoon, I passed by COACH’s window display. The American brand boasted a row of beautifully crafted leather backpacks in its window, inevitably luring me into the boutique. Nathaniel, the sales associate, greeted me. As I picked up the Manhattan Bag off the shelf, Nathaniel explained the item’s significance: in celebration of COACH’s 75th anniversary, the aesthetics behind this particular bag in the collection stems from the initial inspiration that led to COACH’s conception – a baseball glove.
The brand’s founding piece, dating back to 1941, was its Manhattan Leather Bags. The company founder was impressed by the design of a baseball glove, inspiring him to create a handbag with similar attributes. Like a baseball glove, COACH’s first collection of bags was made from tan, supple, high quality leather, and featured excellent stitch work and craftsmanship.
While the brand has notably evolved since its birth almost a century ago, its current collection of luxury bags tastefully revisits its roots, paying homage to the sport in a fresh context: The new, revitalized Manhattan Bag that I saw is uniquely crafted in black textured leather with large olive green pockets, suede accents on its sides and base, and thick caramel brown accent stitching around the sides – reinterpreting the appearance of a baseball glove from a contemporary stance. Even the bag’s leather is soft and sensitive, prone to scratches and marks, like a baseball glove that becomes charmingly withered with each use.
When I tried on the backpack and looked in the mirror before making my purchase, I felt pleasantly divided between two different worlds: the world of fashion and the world of sports. I never would have guessed that two contrasting forces could intermingle and marry to produce something so beautiful. Even more so, I never expected to wear something every day inspired by a baseball glove – a symbol of a realm of which I am merely an observer.
Countering the age-old saying, therefore, it seems that opposites actually do not attract, simply and seamlessly merging in unison. Nevertheless, as the Manhattan Bag exemplifies, opposites can be deliberately combined, patched and woven together into a new product with an innovative function. And when two contrasting worlds collide – such as fashion and sports, or the acquainted and the unfamiliar – they can exist harmoniously and even inspire us, blurring the boundaries between our different worlds and the sidelines on which we stand.
