Kate Spade

Kate Spade (born 1962) is the founder of the designer brand Kate Spade New York. more...

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Katherine Noel Brosnahan was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1962. She majored in journalism at Arizona State University (ASU), during which time she also worked in a motorcycle bar. After college, she worked in the accessories department of Mademoiselle in Manhattan. While at Mademoiselle she met Bradley Carvette who worked in the art department and would become a longtime boyfriend. Kate Spade left Mademoiselle in 1991, with the title of senior fashion editor/head of accessories. While working for Mademoiselle she realized that the market lacked stylish, and sensible handbags, so decided to create her own. With this idea in mind, Kate researched different styles, fabrics, production costs, and created a line of handbags with classic shapes, colors, and fabrics.

Although they never dated at college where they were "just friends," she met her husband Andy Spade while at ASU, working side-by-side as salespersons in a clothing store. It wasn't until many years later when they met up again in New York City that they started dating. Spade had grown up in Scottsdale, Arizona, and is the brother of comedic actor David Spade. Together, Andy and Kate launched their New York-based design company "kate spade handbags" in 1993, selling mainly handbags. Today Kate Spade sells a variety of items including, stationery, personal organizers, address books, shoes, beauty products, perfume, raincoats, pajamas, eyewear, and in 2004 launched "kate spade at home." The home collection includes bedding, bath items, china, various items for the home and wallpaper. Jack Spade, a fictional name, is the men's brand of Kate Spade. Its founder and principal designer was Andy. In recent years, Kate Spade has been featuring designs and special editions by guest designers and is no longer the solo artistic vision of the husband and wife team.

In 1996, Kate Spade opened its first shop in New York City's SOHO. In 1998, Kate Spade opened its doors in Boston, in 2000, Chicago, San Francisco, Greenwich, Connecticut, and Manhasset, New York. In the fall of 2003, two more stores opened in Georgetown and Washington, D.C. From there, a wave of boutiques opened in 2004, in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Dallas, and Boca Raton. The last boutiques that were opened were in Las Vegas, Palo Alto, and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In 2004, Kate went international and opened a store in Aoyama, Japan. Kate currently has 25 Kate Spade boutiques around the world: 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. In 2004, Women's Wear Daily reported that Kate Spade had sales of $125 million. It was predicted that in fiscal 2005, sales could reach and surpass $200 million.

Read more at Wikipedia.org