Kate Spade

Infobox Person
name = Kate Spade


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birth_name = Katherine Noel Brosnahan
birth_date = birth date and age|1962|12|24
birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri
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nationality = USA
other_names =
known_for = Creator of "Kate Spade New York" brand
education = Arizona State University (1985)
occupation = Fashion designer
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spouse = Andy Spade (1994-present)
children = 1 daughter
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website = [http://www.katespade.com KateSpade.com]
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Kate Spade (born Katherine Noel Brosnahan in Kansas City, Missouri in 1962) is the co-founder and namesake of the designer brand, "Kate Spade New York."

Education

Spade graduated from St. Teresa's Academy, an all-girl Catholic high school in Kansas City, Missouri. She majored in journalism at Arizona State University, during which time she also worked in a motorcycle bar [Elisabeth Buhmiller, PUBLIC LIVES; A Cautious Rise to a Top Name in Fashion, New York Times, March 12 1999] , and was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

Mademoiselle Magazine

In 1986, Spade worked in the accessories department of "Mademoiselle" in Manhattan, where she was credited in the magazine's masthead as Katy Brosnahan. While at "Mademoiselle" she met Bradley Carvette who worked in the art department and would become a longtime boyfriend. Together, they were featured in the magazine as part of a photo story on couples and love.

She left "Mademoiselle" in 1991, with the title of senior fashion editor/head of accessories. While working for "Mademoiselle" she noticed that the market lacked stylish and sensible handbags, so decided to create her own. With this in mind, Kate browsed local flea markets, began researching different styles, fabrics, production costs, and created a line of handbags with classic shapes, colors, and fabrics.

Andy Spade

Spade met her future husband, Andy Spade (brother of actor and comic, David Spade), a native of Scottsdale, Arizona, while at ASU, working side-by-side as salespersons in a men's clothing store, Carter's Men Shop in Phoenix. [Ellyn Spragins, How We Bagged Our Careers, Fortune Small Business, 1 September 2003] They were married in 1994.They launched their New York-based design company "kate spade handbags" in January 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 complement to the Kate Spade brand. Its founder and principal designer was Andy Spade. In recent years, "Kate Spade" has been featuring designs and special editions by guest designers and is no longer the sole artistic vision of the husband and wife team.

hops

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, Long Island. In the spring of 2003, one more store opened in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. From there, a wave of boutiques opened in 2004, in Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, Scottsdale, Dallas, and Boca Raton. The last boutiques that were opened were in Las Vegas, Nevada, Palo Alto, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and Huntsville, Alabama. A new store is planned for Fall 2008 at The Mall at Chestnut Hill in Chestnut Hill, MA, Westfield Galleria at Roseville in Roseville, CA and also in Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento, CA. In 2004, the Kate Spade brand went international, opening a store in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

The brand currently has 25 "Kate Spade" boutiques around the world: 16 in the United States, 5 in Japan, 3 in Hong Kong, and 4 in the Philippines.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. The Neiman Marcus Group Inc., which formerly owned "Kate Spade", sold it to Liz Claiborne for $124 million in November 2006. [Angela Moore, Marketwatch, 8 November 2006]

Awards

Kate Spade has won numerous awards throughout her career. In 1996 the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Kate "America's New Fashion Talent in Accessories" for her classic designs. In 1998, CFDA once again honored her for "Best Accessory Designer of the Year". Kate Spade's home collection won her three design awards in 2004, including, "House Beautiful's" "Giants of Design Award for Tastemaker", "Bon Appetit's" "American Food and Entertaining Award for Designer of the Year", and "Elle Decor's" "Elle Decor International Design Award for Bedding".

Criticism

Kate Spade handbags have become very fashionable and are highly-desired items. In an [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9401EFDE1738F93AA35754C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 article] on fake handbag sales on Canal Street in New York City's Chinatown, the "New York Times" famously criticized the very simple construction and boxy shape of the original Kate Spade bags as easy targets for counterfeiters.

Popular Culture

"Kate Spade" handbags have been featured frequently in the sitcom "Just Shoot Me" as the favored purse of the former fashion model character Nina Van Horn, played by Wendie Malick.

References

Also, Kate Spade bags have been mentioned in a clique book: Bratfest at Tiffany's. ± :D

External links

* [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120476959120315561.html?mod=googlenews_wsj A Business Card for Your Wild Side - Wall Street Journal]
* [http://www.wwd.com/notavailable/dotcom?target=/issue/article/117616&articleId=117616&articleType=A&industryKw=issue&industryKw2=issuearticle "Spades Stepping Aside"] July 26, 2007
* [http://www.newyorkbusiness-risingstars.com/profile.php?pageNum_profile_detail=34&year=15&pid=1089 Bio and photo of Kate Spade — Crain's New York Business 40 under 40 — 1992]
* [http://www.katespade.com/home/index.jsp Kate Spade Official Website]
* [http://www.jackspade.com/shop/home.php Jack Spade Official Website]
* [http://ihatecounterfeitbags.info/katespadelabels Real or Fake? kate spade labels]
* [http://www.katespade.com/corp/index.jsp?page=aboutkate Kate Spade's biography]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9404E2D91638F93AA2575BC0A96F958260 Good Bone Structure (article)]
* [http://talkingmakeup.com/fragrance/kate-spade-hand-bags-and-frgrance/ Kate Spade Handbags And Fragrance (article)]
* [http://www.eonline.com/celebrities/profile/index.jsp?uuid=51109767-0e2e-41df-bd4e-d36b55ab5181 EOnline - David Spade Profile]