Coach co-founder Miles Cahn passes away at 95

Miles Cahn, co-founder of American accessories and fashion giant Coach, died at his home in New York on Friday at the age of 95.

Cahn founded the brand with wife Lilian in 1961 after they acquired a small men's wallet manufacturer on 34th street, called Gail Leather Products, and renamed it.

It branched into women's handbags, for which the brand is still best known today, at the insistence of Lilian, who died in 2013 aged 89.

Lilian and Miles Cahn in the 1960s

Legendary designer Bonnie Cashin was brought in to design the bags and revolutionised the previous stiff and formal designs of women's bag to something much more practical for everyday use, such as bucket bags and "tongue bags", in bright colours. Cashin worked at Coach until the 1970s before moving on to work Hermès, Ballantyne and Aquascutum; she died in 2000.

The Cahns remained in their 34th street factory for many years and sales were believed to have $20m by the early 1980s. In 1985 the Cahns sold the business to Sara Lee, which took the brand global and spun it off in 2000.

Today the brand is headed by British creative director Stuart Vevers and recently opened a flagship store on London's Regent Street. Last year it was linked to a potential buy-out of Burberry, which never got beyond an informal approach stage, and is believed to be interested in acquiring fellow US accessories and lifestyle brand Kate Spade.