Guerrilla Couture: Carry Your COAT
Sometimes the sharpest commentary on fashion doesn’t happen on the runway. It happens in the space around it, where an ordinary object can upstage the season’s hottest drop.
The Setup
Forget Balenciaga, Dior, or Hermès. At London Fashion Week 2025, the accessory that stopped people in their tracks was… a paint tin.
Premium UK paint brand COAT, working with Allies Creative Studio, launched Carry Your COAT: a guerrilla campaign that reimagined recyclable paint tins as handbags. Models carried them through the streets, photographers captured the moment, and within hours those images were plastered back across London in a feedback loop of stunt, story, and statement.
The point was to show that sustainability can be covetable. Each tin is infinitely recyclable, made-to-order with zero waste, and now recontextualized as fashion, a symbol of circular design. Better still, the tins are available to buy as “tinbags,” with all proceeds going to Furnishing Futures, a charity furnishing homes for women and children after domestic abuse.
Sometimes the sharpest commentary on fashion doesn’t happen on the runway. It happens in the space around it, where an ordinary object can upstage the season’s hottest drop.
The Breakdown
Brand Positioning & Identity
COAT positions itself as the UK’s climate-positive, B Corp-certified paint disruptor. Here, they extend that identity into fashion. Not as a brand pivot, but as proof of cultural relevance.
Target Segment & Audience
Young, eco-conscious consumers who view sustainability as a lifestyle flex, plus the fashion/media crowd who amplify cultural moments.
Messaging & Storytelling
The stunt reframes an ordinary object (a paint tin) into the most photographed “handbag” of Fashion Week. The message: sustainability isn’t boring—it can be bold, covetable, even couture.
Experience & Journey
From the streets → to the lens → to paste-ups across London → to purchasable “tinbags.” The journey mirrors fashion’s hype cycle but compresses it into a single campaign loop.
Community & Culture Insight
Fashion thrives on exclusivity. COAT flips that script—taking a mass, utilitarian object and positioning it as the week’s most exclusive accessory, while grounding it in sustainability.
Differentiation & USP
While other paint brands talk about durability and finish, COAT defines itself as a cultural signal. The tin isn’t packaging—it’s a statement piece.
Design Language
Minimal, recyclable tins carried like handbags. Visuals plastered guerrilla-style around the city echoed fashion photography. The medium became the message.
The Marketing Pitch
Sustainability can be covetable. By reframing a recyclable paint tin as a fashion accessory, COAT turned circular design into cultural capital.
Is This A Winning Pitch?
Is this guerrilla couture a clever brand play, or just a flash-in-the-pan gimmick?
