THE KATE SPADE EFFECT.
HOW MANHATTAN’S ORIGINAL IT-GIRL LABEL IS SPARKING JOY everywhere AGAIN
Like the remainder of the planet, I’d been intrigued by the cult-y organizational powers of Marie Kondo. I’d needed an excuse to wash out my wardrobe ever since it began bursting with the good unworn so, after pouring a mountain of twisted fabric onto the ground, I sat on the couch and pressed ‘play’.
As suspected, it had been tidying porn…with much regard to “sparking joy”. Hold things, read their energy, see how it causes you to feel, she repeats. Does it SPARK JOY? After half an hour watching American folks find out how to fold their clothes, I used to be absolutely, inexplicably MOTIVATED. So I took to my very own threads. it had been easy. I realized I loathed most of those things and that I sorted with abandon. it had been cleansing and empowering. I don’t need seven Bretons! That lacy shirt is awful! The cut-out dress was a complete mistake! Hurrah! check out me, I’m responsible for my life! No ‘joy’ could stop my recklessness! But even as soon as I’d yeehaa’d my way through most of the pile I came to a leather bag. A green, cross-body tote with a shiny gold buckle clasp.
And then I felt it. The joy. I used to be washed with emotion. it had been my first Kate Spade — one I hadn’t seen in forever. Inside was a TARDIS of knick-knacks. Ripped subway tickets, a couple of pennies, a never-opened packet of gum, and a coaster from a restaurant within the West Village. is that what Kondo was on about? Because I’m crying now. I was lost during a nostalgic transcendence. Me, arriving in NY for the primary time, overwhelmed by its magnificence. Walking 5th Avenue, eating a bagel, seeing Central Park, sneaking an image of “Carrie’s house”…and visiting the Kate Spade store in SoHo.
This was a time before you’ll buy the label online, so returning home with a Kate Spade anything was a replacement York badge of honor. I remembered the inside of the shop was so bright, warm, and brimming with magical prints and textures that I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit burrow. After an extended peruse, I settled on the green bag. it had been the foremost exciting thing I had ever bought. The joy one gets from, I would like to mention, “the unearthing of a treasure” (rather than “the buying of something”) is wholeheartedly real. and therefore the tangible manifestation of that romantic Manhattan-centric je ne sais quoi is nearly entirely unique to Kate Spade.
Last year, new creative director Nicola Glass was tasked with a reinvention by parent company Tapestry Inc. The timing was delicate given the recent passing of their founder (a story that sparked international headlines) but Glass, who is really a Northern Ireland native, was up to the challenge. Having cut her teeth within the accessories arena of homes like Michael Kors and Gucci, her gravitation to Kate Spade’s iconic shoes, bags, and jewelry faction was particularly anticipated. “When I joined the brand in January 2018, I started by looking backward before I looked forwards. I designed my first collection with the brand’s core DNA in mind. There truly was such a lot of opportunity” Glass tells GRAZIA. “I looked to the brand’s origins — the utilization of color and print — and evolved it. I saw such a lot of room to expand upon — to actually develop and evolve the prevailing codes of the house in my very own way.” And while Kate Spade’s heritage ethos drives home an iconic ‘Manhattan Girl’ image, Glass is ensuring inclusivity is at the core of her direction. “New York will always be our home, but I design for an eclectic mixture of women — from a recent graduate buying her first proper handbag together with her first pay-check to a mother treating herself to something extraordinary. Our customer may be a mindset, not a demographic.” Toting a Kate Spade is one of the first It-bag experiences and Glass is re-establishing this status. The ‘Nicola’, for instance, maybe a sleek, rounded-edge, classic leather handbag finished with a spotlight on heritage: an outsized spade-heart clasp that twists to lock. The ‘Dorie’ on the opposite hand uses a cleverly woven pattern of leather hearts and spades to make vibrant combat the bucket bag.
When Glass presented her first collection (spring-summer ’19, in September last year) the excitement post-show was attributed to the exciting path that she is paving. A chic, more muted color palette, and an updated curation of shapes and designs that had the millennial zeitgeist clearly in mind. But most significantly it had been recapturing that Kate Spade joy. And the current campaign concurs.
A pretty, painterly, stylized photoshoot that comes with covetable wears from the spring collection also as three of Hollywood’s most enjoyable young actresses, Julia Garner (Maniac, Ozark), Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) and Kiki Layne (If Beale Street Could Talk). an ideal synergy for a brand that poses like a pin-up for young, stylish ingenues. Spring summer 2019 was Glass’ first collection as creative director and was thus anticipated by the style world at large.
Glass respectfully and thoughtfully engaged her ideals for the label into a variety of new-era feminist fashion that spoke the Spade language while lightly pepping the vocabulary. Retro flushes in both prints and designs drew a welcome rose-colored atmosphere over pretty day frocks, sixties floral ensembles, and cute puffed-sleeved tops — and made for lots of front row wish-list scribbling By autumn winter 2019 (shown just a few weeks ago in New York) Glass’ ready-to-wear offering began to feel as a signature because of the company’s bread-and-butter accessories.
Babydoll dresses in autumnal marigolds, emerald greens, and bluest denim played against ruched, floaty frocks in wearable animal prints and stripy Ombre knits. Oversized fabric totes were carried additionally to sweet, mini, cross-body chain-bags in polished leather, all layered over Glass’ inspired Twiggy-meets-Carrie sartorial character. A fresh, hopeful direction for a label desired by women of all walks of life, of all backgrounds, of all ages.
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“Kate Spade has always been a healthy and powerful brand with a positive message of helping women express themselves through fashion. The brand celebrates that it’s great to be a lady and that they encourage women to be the simplest versions of themselves. Ultimately, my intention is to bring the brand forward. we’ve such a lot to create upon, then much room to grow, we’ve only begun to scratch the surface.” So, as my mind returned to the here and now, I carefully added the green tote to my Kondo-suggested sentimental category while bundling up most of the remainder into a donation bag. Suddenly, my wardrobe had a replacement lease of life, able to combat its own reestablishment. Time for a replacement addition, I decided, as I clicked on katespade.com. a touch present to myself.. one among luxurious black leather, contrasting pink lining, an ingenious twisting clasp, and, of course, that shiny golden spade.
