Lillian Cahn (née Lenovitz; December 11, 1923 – March 4, 2013) was a Hungarian-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

businessperson A businessperson, also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman, is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial ...

who co-founded

Coach New York Coach New York, commonly known as Coach, is an American luxury fashion house headquartered in New York City & specialized in handbags, luggage, and accessories, as well as ready-to-wear. Coach licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eye ...

with her husband,

Miles Cahn Miles Cahn (April 18, 1921 – February 10, 2017) was an American businessman and designer who co-founded the Coach, Inc., Coach Leatherware Company, now known as Coach, Inc., with his wife, Lillian Cahn, in 1961. The Cahns founded the Luxury goo ...

. Lillian Cahn also created Coach's first line of

handbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. It has also been called a pocketbook in parts of the U.S. Terminology The term "purse" originally referred to a smal ...

s, which remains the label's trademark consumer product. She had emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with her family during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. After selling Coach in 1985, the Cahns operated a goat farm and cheese-making business in

Pine Plains, New York Pine Plains is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,218 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the geographic character of the region. The hamlet of Pine Plains is on the northern border of the county. ...

Biography

Early life

Lillian Cahn was born Lillian Lenovitz on December 11, 1923 in Sátoraljaújhely. She emigrated to the

with her family during the

Coach

Coach's original line of products focused on men's

wallet A wallet is a flat case or pouch, often used to carry small personal items such as physical currency, debit cards, and credit cards; identification documents such as driving licence, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, b ...

s and

billfold A wallet is a flat case or pouch, often used to carry small personal items such as physical currency, debit cards, and credit cards; identification documents such as driving licence, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, ...

s in 1941. It was Lillian who suggested the company branch out into women's

s. "I scoffed at first," Mr. Cahn told the New York Times. "In New York, there were a lot of handbag companies, and at that time stores were all buying knockoffs of bags made in Europe. But my wife prevailed." Cahn also designed the first handbags, based on paper

shopping bag Shopping bags are medium-sized bags, typically around 10–20 litres (2.5–5 gallons) in volume (though much larger versions exist, especially for non-grocery shopping), that are used by shoppers to carry home their purchases. Some are intende ...

s she had used as a child in Pennsylvania.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

(National Public Radio) called her "the force behind today's high-end leather handbags."

After Coach

After selling Coach in 1985, the Cahns operated a goat farm and cheese-making business in

. Cahn died in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, on March 4, 2013, at the age of 89 and was buried in Pine Plains. She was survived by her husband of 66 years, Coach co-founder

, who died in February 2017.

References

1923 births 2013 deaths American company founders 20th-century American designers American women fashion designers American businesspeople in fashion American women company founders Hungarian emigrants to the United States People from the Upper West Side People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania 21st-century American businesswomen 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesswomen American fashion designers {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub