Fashion Definitions — fashion history, brands and industry terms from Apparel Search
Kate Spade is the founder of the designer brand kate spade, New York. Kate Brosnahan Spade grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, earned a journalism degree at Arizona State University, and worked at Mademoiselle magazine in New York. Together, Andy and Kate Spade began the New York-based design company in 1993, selling mainly handbags before expanding to fashion accessories and home decor items.
Kate Spade is the founder of the designer brand kate spade, New York.Kate Brosnahan Spade grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She earned a journalism degree at Arizona State University and began working at Mademoiselle magazine (where she was credited on the editorial masthead as Katy) in New York, where she met her longtime boyfriend Bradley Carvette.
She met her husband Andy Spade while at ASU, although they never dated there and were only good friends. It wasn't until many years later that they met up again in NYC that they started dating. Andy Spade grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona and is the older brother of famed actor David Spade. Together, Andy and Kate Spade, began the New York-based design company in 1993, selling mainly handbags and has now expanded to fashion accessories and home decor items.
There are 25 kate spade boutiques around the world. There are currently 16 in the United States, 5 in Japan, 3 in Hong Kong, and 1 in the Philippines. The Neiman Marcus Group Inc. owns a majority interest in kate spade. kate spade handbags have become a symbol of luxury and wealth and display personality and flair. Their colorful designs and famed nylon bags have become highly-desired items.
In 2004, Women's Wear Daily reported that kate spade had sales of $125 million. It is predicted that in fiscal 2005, sales could reach and surpass $200 million.
The New York Times famously criticized the simple boxy design of the women's handbags, which made it very easy for the counterfeiters to copy, in an article on fake handbag sales in New York City's Chinatown.
Jack Spade, a fictional name, is the men's brand of kate spade and its founder and principal designer is Kate's husband Andy Spade.
Kate Spade (Note: The company intentionally uses lowercase letters.)
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/kate_spade 2/6/06 |
Designer Definition (from U.S Department of Labor)
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Kate Spade's route into design ran through publishing rather than fashion school. Kate Brosnahan Spade grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, earned a journalism degree at Arizona State University, and began working at Mademoiselle magazine in New York, where she was credited on the editorial masthead as Katy. Magazine work places a person close to fashion as an editor and stylist of other people's products; founding a design company reverses that role, from selecting and presenting goods to originating them. She met her husband Andy Spade while at Arizona State University, although they never dated there and were only good friends; they met up again in New York City many years later and started dating. Andy Spade grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona and is the older brother of actor David Spade.
Together, Andy and Kate Spade began the New York-based design company in 1993, selling mainly handbags. The company deliberately uses lowercase letters for its name, kate spade — a small typographic decision that functions as branding, making the name instantly recognisable in print. Starting mainly with handbags gave the young company a single, focused product category in which to establish that recognition before widening its range.
Kate spade handbags have become a symbol of luxury and wealth and display personality and flair, and their colorful designs and famed nylon bags have become highly-desired items. Color and nylon are the two concrete signatures named: color supplies the personality and flair, while nylon — a practical, everyday material — made the bags distinctive in a luxury market more often associated with leather. That combination of a simple shape, bright color and accessible material helps explain both the desire for the bags and their vulnerability. The New York Times famously criticized the simple boxy design of the women's handbags, which made it very easy for counterfeiters to copy, in an article on fake handbag sales in New York City's Chinatown. Simplicity is therefore presented as both a design virtue and a commercial risk: the clearer and boxier the form, the easier it is to reproduce without permission.
From handbags the company expanded to fashion accessories and home decor items, moving from a single carried product into goods for the person and for the home. Its retail footprint is given in detail: there are 25 kate spade boutiques around the world, currently 16 in the United States, 5 in Japan, 3 in Hong Kong, and 1 in the Philippines. The distribution is heavily American, with a concentrated presence in Japan and Hong Kong, which describes an American brand with a defined East Asian market rather than even worldwide coverage. Ownership sits partly outside the founders: the Neiman Marcus Group Inc. owns a majority interest in kate spade, meaning control of the company rests with that group while the brand continues under its founders' name.
Sales figures show rapid growth. In 2004 Women's Wear Daily reported that kate spade had sales of 125 million dollars, and it was predicted that in fiscal 2005 sales could reach and surpass 200 million dollars. A predicted jump of that size in a single year describes a business still expanding quickly more than a decade after its 1993 founding. The men's side of the business is handled separately: Jack Spade, a fictional name, is the men's brand of kate spade, and its founder and principal designer is Kate's husband Andy Spade. Using an invented male counterpart name keeps the men's line visibly related to kate spade while giving it a distinct identity, and dividing the founding work — Kate as founder of the main brand, Andy as founder and principal designer of the men's brand — completes the picture of a partnership business.
Together, Andy and Kate Spade began the New York-based design company in 1993, selling mainly handbags. It has since expanded to fashion accessories and home decor items.
Kate spade handbags have become a symbol of luxury and wealth and display personality and flair. Their colorful designs and famed nylon bags have become highly-desired items.
Jack Spade, a fictional name, is the men's brand of kate spade. Its founder and principal designer is Kate's husband Andy Spade.