Co-Founder of Coach Handbags Dies at 95

Miles Cahn, who with his wife founded the Coach Leatherware Company, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 95.

His death was confirmed by his son-in-law, the chef Mario Batali.

The New York Times reports Mr. Cahn and his wife, Lillian Cahn, founded Coach in 1961 after buying a small wallet manufacturer on W. 34th Street and renaming it. One of the company's biggest successes was its now-classic shopping bag purse, which was modeled on a type of paper shopping bag that Mrs. Cahn, as a girl, had used to make food deliveries from a series of businesses her family owned in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., during the Depression.

It was at Mrs. Cahn’s suggestion that Coach began producing its first generation of women’s handbags. She was impressed by the quality of a flexible cowhide used in baseball gloves. The Coach name has since then gone on to become a staple in the retail community.

Mr. Cahn, who lived on the Upper West Side, is survived by his children Julie, David and Susi, all with the surname Cahn, and five grandchildren.