Elle Fanning Is the Reason You'll Want to Get Off Your Phone And Onto Coach's Bus

The need for connection—in a world of people sucked into their phones and pulled into discourse over whether computers will take over the world in a decade—is more dire now than ever. That's exactly what Coach's new campaign, built around the brand's iconic Tabby bag, is all about.

Together with its ongoing partnership with Spotify, Coach is fusing fashion, music, and connection into one story.

The campaign, titled "Live Your Story," grew out of in-depth conversations with Gen Z consumers, who described wanting to spend less time on screens and more time connecting in the real world — and who see live music as one of the most powerful ways to get there.

Courtesy of Coach / Elaine Constantine

The result is four films, directed by Emmy-nominated Vincent Haycock, each one built around a different musician and soundtracked by a song written specifically for the campaign. PinkPantheress, Korean artist SOYEON—who contributes a brand-new solo single—Lilas, and breakout Chinese artist Shan Yichun each anchor their own film, their sound shaping the story as much as any script does.

Oscar-nominated brand ambassador Elle Fanning drives the through-line connecting all four, appearing in the films behind the wheel of a bus full of strangers on their way to a concert, each one locked into their own phone and their own world. As the ride goes on, the bus fills up. PinkPantheress climbs aboard and the music starts to do what the phones couldn't: the passengers look up, and the community grows around them.

Courtesy of Coach / Elaine Constantine

It helps that Fanning brings a built-in trust factor to the role. She's been in the public eye since childhood, cast early as America's sweetheart, but it's her last two years of work that have cemented her as a serious acting talent—taking on roles from the emotional center of a fractured family in Sentimental Value, to a woman defined by her proximity to a brilliant, guarded artist in A Complete Unknown. That kind of built-in goodwill is exactly what a campaign asking people to embrace vulnerability and togetherness needs.

Courtesy of Coach / Drew Levin

Off-screen, the story keeps going: a dedicated "Live Your Story" hub on Spotify lets fans find their own listening persona and dig into playlists shaped by each ambassador, while the real-world Tabby Tour brings the bus to life with live performances and customization stops across New York, London, Tokyo, and Seoul. That's the through-line Coach is banking on—that cultural relevance now lives at the intersection of the digital and the physical, pulling you out of the screen in front of you and into the room you're actually sitting in.

Courtesy of Coach / Elaine Constantine

Jessica NeisesSenior Fashion Editor

Jessica (aka Jess) is a Senior Fashion Editor at Cosmopolitan, working across both fashion market and styling for print stories, as well as digital fashion and commerce coverage. Prior to joining Cosmo, she worked in fashion at Vanity Fair. Jess lives in New York City and loves spotlighting emerging designers you might not have heard of yet—while also being an unabashedly devoted Love Island fan (dating back to Season 1 of Love Island UK, that’s how serious). See more of her work here, and follow her on Instagram if you love her.