Luxury Brands And Social Impact: Leadership Is In The Genes

Forbes

3 days ago

Luxury Brands And Social Impact: Leadership Is In The Genes
Promoting sexual imagery while raising awareness for domestic violence is at the center of the controversy surrounding the Sydney Sweeney and American Eagle's 'great jeans' campaign and subsequent backlash. The American Eagle Outfitters' campaign may be generating massive awareness, but other iconic fashion brands are redefining what it really means to lead on social impact. These brands aren't treating social impact as a marketing opportunity, they are approaching it with authenticity, lived experience, and measurable results. And doing so in a way that isn't generating controversy because it genuinely reflects the DNA of their companies.
One example is Ralph Lauren's "Oak Bluffs" collection which tapped into the sense of home, safety, connection, and nostalgia that generations of Black families have had for Oak Bluffs, a town on Martha's Vineyard known for its significance to Black Americans. What made it authentic is that the team behind it lived the story they were telling: the collection was crafted by those who intimately understood the cultural weight it carried and created with knowledge based on lived experiences.
Coach, one of the most iconic American fashion brands, is proving that when done with authenticity and measurable outcomes, social impact can be more than just a brand-building exercise. The Coach Foundation's Dream It Real initiative is supporting historically under-resourced young people as they pursue their dreams and is getting results.
I wanted to know how the Coach Foundation is having an impact on the lives of young people and bringing authenticity to an industry that has, as my Forbes colleague Christopher Marquis observed, long been synonymous with excess. To find out why its approach is fundamentally different from the short-term, image-driven efforts that dominate much of the luxury fashion industry, I spoke with three people who are central to the organization's work with youth. Julia Furnari, Executive Director of the Coach Foundation, Jessica Pliska, Founder and CEO of The Opportunity Network (OppNet) and ​​Puspita Esha, a grad student at Baruch College and Dream It Real Scholar.
For Julia Furnari, the work is personal. 'My brother was born with a physical disability and community and social impact was part of who we were growing up,' she told me. 'Every week we were at different hospitals for different surgeries and procedures. I made it my life's mission to combine business and doing good.'
Furnari started her career in merchandising with a goal: to reach a place where she could lead a corporate foundation. Today, she heads the Coach Foundation and is scaling Dream It Real globally. 'With many fashion brands, it's mostly about marketing their products,' Furnari said. 'In our case, we've been operating this foundation for a long time with one goal and one mission: to advance young people and provide opportunity.'
According to Funari, Coach was founded in a New York City loft in 1941 by two people who had an ethos of striving and dreaming and thinking about the modern American dream. 'When we started the foundation in 2008 we set out to create lasting change for young people that connected to the DNA of our brand.'
When the foundation launched, Coach grounded its strategy in research. Ten-year studies from the Gates Foundation and guidance from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors revealed a stark reality: there's a drastic drop-off in education after high school for young people from low-income and under-resourced backgrounds. That data shaped the foundation's approach—providing scholarships and mentorship to help students not just enroll in college but also succeed in their careers.
The Coach Foundation's model is working. 'Dream It Real is a first-of-its-kind scholarship program that matches every student with a mentor at Coach,' Furnari said. 'We're seeing graduation rates of 97% compared to 21% for their peers and 94% of Dream It Real scholars are first-generation college students who graduate with 88% less debt than the national average."
Because Coach operates with an endowed foundation, the commitment isn't tied to annual sales or market trends. 'This is not about good business or being cool with Gen Z,' Furnari said. 'This ties to our founding story and is about our mission to uplift the next generation and create change in the world.'
Importantly, the Coach foundation doesn't sit in the company's marketing department. 'There are brands who say buy from us because a percentage is going to a charity,' said Funari. 'We're giving away millions of dollars a year because we believe it's the right thing to do and because we are so passionate about the impact data that we see in our programs.'
The Opportunity Network (OppNet) was founded in 2003 by Jessica Pliska to help students from under-resourced communities overcome barriers to college and career opportunities. 'Anybody who knows me will not be surprised to know I started an organization that's really built on the foundation of the power of networks for mobilizing social capital and career and economic mobility,' said Pliska.'We have a real workforce shortage in this country across a very broad range of sectors and we help our students prepare for opportunities where they can fill those gaps.'
Pliska shared that OppNet has partnerships with many companies but the way that leaders at Coach lean into their social impact strategy is unusual. 'When our students spend time with their CEO Todd Kahn they have things in common. Todd is a first generation college student and there is a remarkable authenticity from his perspective. He wants to hear about how Coach has been helpful with the challenges that students are facing.'
That authenticity extends to responsiveness and action. When Pliska told Kahn that internships and career skills aren't guaranteed outcomes of a college degree, his answer was 'we need to be doing this.' Now there is an OppNet student intern at Coach.
'College scholarships and college education have nothing to do with the Coach brand,' Pliska noted. 'There are many causes they could align with that would have a clearer line of sight to their bottom line. But they've chosen this because it's the right thing to do.'
OppNet has a relationship with Coach that's built on trust and shifts the power dynamic that often defines corporate philanthropy. 'With Coach, we have real conversations about what's working and what's not,' she said. 'That's helped create a partnership where we can trust our voice and have confidence that you're not going to lose anything as a charitable partner.'
According to Pliska, the shared commitment that Coach and OppNet have to creating opportunities for young people could be a model for how nonprofits partner with corporations. 'And by that I mean long term, trust based, shifting of the power dynamic, and senior leaders really leaning in,' said Pliska.
Puspita Esha is a graduate student at Baruch College and a Dream It Real Scholar. For Esha the program has been transformative. 'I wouldn't have been able to afford my first semester of tuition if it weren't for the grant money from Dream It Real. They also connected me to mentors, job opportunities, and career counselling.'
Esha's introduction to the program came in high school through OppNet. "I was actually recruited to OppNet by my guidance counsellor. I knew I was lacking some of the resources that I needed to be successful and I went to the info session and really connected with the people at OppNet. They connected me to Dream It Real and helped with the smooth transition to my mentor from Coach.'
Her mentor from Coach had experience that straddled both accounting and entertainment—her two potential career paths at the time. 'We clicked so well that we met more than expected,' Esha said. 'I was getting the support I needed, plus job shadow days and Dream It Real events where I could connect with other students, mentors, and employees.'
The human connection is one of Esha's favorite aspects of the program.. 'People always say it's about the people—and that's exactly what I was getting from Dream It Real. Now, a group of us stay in touch, meet for lunch, and update each other on our careers.'
Mentorship, she added, is a two-way street. Her mentor, a seasoned accountant, had never considered getting a second degree until their conversations inspired her to explore graduate school. 'Not only is she helping me, but I'm also affecting her,' Esha said. 'That's something you don't see often—everybody is learning.'
Esha hopes other companies take notice. 'I think Coach is setting a precedent for what luxury brands or other companies should be doing. They are doing more than just giving out free money to students. They are connecting with their students one on one. I'm one of a few grateful students that get to connect with Coach, and I'm hoping more students get the same opportunity with Coach and other companies as well.'
Companies such as American Eagle Outfitters are trivializing important issues such as domestic violence by being intentionally provocative for the purpose of driving transactional brand awareness and sales. Coach's approach to social impact is grounded in five factors that reflect the company's authentic commitment to transforming the lives of young people.
Data-Driven Focus: Dream It Real's program is informed by independent research and measurable outcomes—not marketing trends.
Deep Integration into Company Culture: With 250 employees actively engaged as mentors for four years, social impact is part of how the company operates.
Trust-Based Partnerships: Nonprofit partners such as OppNet are treated as equal collaborators, not just recipients of charity.
Endowed, Perpetual Funding: By decoupling social impact from annual business performance, Coach ensures its commitment isn't vulnerable to shifting market conditions.
Long-Term Commitment: Coach invests in multi-year student journeys rather than one-off campaigns.
The Coach Foundation has an ambitious goal of awarding 10,000 scholarships by 2030 and recently announced a transformative $20M investment to advance opportunities for under-resourced young people. 'We do the work because it's the right thing to do, not to gain customers,' said Funari. 'And, we will continue to do the work in perpetuity.'
American Eagle Outfitters is getting headlines, but other luxury brands such as Coach are re-defining leadership by approaching social impact in a way that is truly in their genes.