Lola Tung’s mother has worn a watch every day of her daughter’s life, and has spent most of that time trying to get her to do the same. It didn’t take. Phones killed the habit for most of her generation, Tung reckons, and she was no exception.
Then Coach named her its global ambassador for eyewear, watches and fragrance, and something clicked. Reframed as statement jewellery rather than a timekeeping device, the watch finally made sense to her. She says it makes her feel elevated and sophisticated, then laughs at herself for saying it.
The gap between 19 and 23
The timing suits her. Tung was a college student when she was cast as Belly Conklin, and at 23 she is now several careers deep. There have been horror thrillers (Forbidden Fruits), indie films (Chasing Summer), an A24 project (Please), a run in Hadestown on Broadway, and music videos for Laufey and Royel Otis.
Her relationship with Coach has been running alongside all of it. She fronted Coachtopia, the label’s sustainability-minded line aimed at her own age group. She helped bridge television and retail with the Coach x The Summer I Turned Pretty capsule. She turned up at enough shows to become a front-row regular, and developed a serious Tabby bag habit along the way. Her current favourite is a custom piece she was given for the upcoming fragrance campaign, and it goes everywhere with her, the way Belly’s backpack once did.
Evolving without abandoning the fun stuff
None of this is a hard reset. Tung is holding the bright, playful Coachtopia register in one hand and the cooler, more grown-up watch category in the other, and she seems fairly relaxed about the tension. The interesting part of a long brand relationship, she says, is being allowed to grow up inside it.
She resists being pinned to a single aesthetic anyway. Her style keeps moving, and she’d rather try things than commit to a lane.
The eyewear sits neatly between the two poles: recognisably Coach in colour and character, but cut in shapes that don’t expire. She had a pair on the table during our conversation. Her mother likes them as much as she does.
Fragrance is the genuinely new one
Scent is the part she’s still learning. She freely admits she’s no expert, though she has started looking for the one perfume that will be hers.
She’s been turning over something she heard about Rosamund Pike, who reportedly assigns a different scent to every character she plays. Tung found the idea fascinating and slightly alien. Her instinct runs the other way: find the scent, keep the scent, done.
Give her another year in this job and she may not be so sure.
