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.'
Always searching for the quintessential handbag, Katherine noel brosnahan thought it would be easier and definitely more interesting to create her own. One late night in province town with then boyfriend, now husband, Andy Spade, a company was born using Kate's first name and Andy's last to form 'Kate Spade.' As an accessories editor for six years, Kate knew the market well, while Andy, a creative director at TBWA/chiat/day advertising, immediately put his finger on the sensibility. Together, the couple identified a void in the market, combined their talents, took a risk, and designed six simple shapes that emphasized utility, color, and fabric. These six original designs continue to be the company's signature styles.
Kate's taste for simple silhouettes, combined with her innovative use of fabrics, was a breath of fresh air in the accessories category. In 1993, with the humble intention of designing a bag she would carry, Kate reinvented the handbag, starting a virtual revolution in the accessories market. In 1996, the council of fashion designers CFDA honored Kate and her unpretentious designs by awarding her America's new fashion talent in accessories. Two years later, Kate was honored once again by the CFDA, this time as accessory designer of the year.
Kate Spade opened its first shop in 1996 in New York city's Soho at 59 Thompson street. It quickly outgrew the space and moved around the corner to 454 Broome street in the fall of 1997. The store became a laboratory for different categories, from paper to travel.
Innocently appealing to a wide variety of women, the company's growth continues. In November of 1999, Kate Spade introduced a much anticipated shoe collection incorporating her unique sense of style and sophisticated use of color. As Kate Spade grows and evolves, a great deal of product development continues to occur within the company. Based on Kate's love of textiles, pattern, and strong geometric shapes, the company developed a signature, iconic design element. Inspired by the opart movement of the sixties, this element has proved multi-faceted and naturally developed into a new company mark and graphic art pattern. Various interpretations of the design were incorporated into the Kate Spade handbags, luggages, shoes, glasses, and paper collections and introduced as the "noel weave" collection in the fall of 2001. The company plans to incorporate this signature mark into its identity system and product collections going forward as a complement to the enduring 'Kate Spade New York' logo.
Source: Kate Spade , Wikipedia
