On Friday, Nov.6, the Coach and Spotify collaboration brought music, fashion and community to the Atlanta University Center (AUC). The brands brought their Tabby Tour to Clark Atlanta University (CAU), featuring Storm Reid and Dess Dior
Students from across Atlanta came out to see and support the event and experience the collaboration firsthand.
Atlanta wasn’t the only stop for the collaboration. The tour also visited cities including New York, Washington, DC, Tokyo, London and Seoul.
The tour is part of Coach’s “Live Your Story” campaign, a global initiative built on the idea that GenZ does not separate what they wear, what they listen to and what communities they belong to. Through AUX, Spotify’s in-house brand consultancy, the collaboration brings a custom Coach x Spotify bus, special-edition Tabby bags, a photo booth and live performances to college campuses.
For CAU first-year MBA student Cameron Foreman, the collaboration made sense from the start. “When you think about Coach, you think about an elegant brand. And when you think about Spotify, you can go to R&B,” he said. “I feel the collaboration was definitely natural.”
Students also emphasized the importance of the event’s location.
Layla Reid, A CAU sophomore and Coach x Spotify ambassador, said hosting the event in the AUC brought people together.
“I see people from Georgia Tech, Kennesaw and people outside the Atlanta Community coming out to support us.” Reid said. Others students also shared their perspectives on the connection between music, fashion and personal identity.
CAU junior Salena Selon said music offers a glimpse into a person’s identity, making personalization an important part of the collaboration. Johnathan, a junior at Morehouse, added that music shapes his style: “If I’m listening to music, that kind of inspires what I want to wear.”
Dess Dior joined Storm Reid . Her message to the student was rooted in persistence and faith.
“Everything starts out really, really hard, and you’re going to have a lot of ups and downs that make I shouldn’t be doing this,” she said. But she kept going. “He didn’t bring me this far to get me this far.”
Her advice on identity reflected theme Coach’s “Live Your Story” campaign and Spotify’s Courage Frequency experience. “Everyone has their own identity, so you got to find your niche, find that spark inside of you and totally push into that,” Dess Dior said.
Dess Dior also acknowledged the people who supported her throughout her career. “It takes a village of support and motivation on those days where you don’t feel like yourself or feel like you can’t do it.” She also shared that singer Jhené Aiko’s music has been a source of comfort during difficult moments.
“Her music is healing me. I would go to sleep listening to her music.”
For Dess Dior, music and style are inseparable. “I feel like my style is a visual representation of my music,” she said. “My music is the sonic part, and it’s just telling you about everything that you see.”
As her career continues to grow, Dess Dior is expanding her personal style into entrepreneurship. Dess Dior announced that her clothing brand Cozy, is set to launch Nov. 27, Black Friday. “It’s like elevated streetwear,” she said.
For students interested in entrepreneurship, music and fashion, Dess Dior’s story reflected the events message identity through creativity and community.
After the conversation, Dess Dior took the stage to perform fan favorites including “Pop Out”, “Ms. Put It On” and “Come Correct.” Midway through, she brought a special guest, Taffy, to the stage for performances of “Taffy Swirl” and “Feeling On My Body.”
The Atlanta stop brought Coach and Spotify’s campaign to life, creating a space where music, fashion and community came together.
For Atlanta students, the event offered a chance to hear from an artist building her brand through music and fashion. Dess Dior encouraged the crowd, everyone has their own identity and find that spark is part of living their story.
