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Kate Spade

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Kate Spade
Born
Katherine Noel Brosnahan

(1962-12-24)December 24, 1962
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJune 5, 2018(2018-06-05) (aged 55)
New York City, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by hanging
NationalityAmerican
Other namesKate Valentine
EducationArizona State University (B.S. – 1985)
Occupation(s)Fashion designer, businesswoman
Known forKate Spade New York
Frances Valentine
Spouse(s)
​
​
(m. 1994; "her death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 2018)​
Children1
RelativesDavid Spade (brother-in-law)
Rachel Brosnahan (niece)

Katherine Noel Brosnahan (December 24, 1962 – June 5, 2018), known professionally as Kate Spade or Kate Valentine,[1][2][3] was an American fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the founder and former co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York.

After working in the accessories department at the fashion magazine Mademoiselle, Brosnahan and her husband Andy Spade founded the business in 1993, identifying a market for quality stylish handbags. Those she designed and produced quickly became popular, and the company expanded into other product lines. In 1999 she sold a 56% stake in Kate Spade New York to Neiman Marcus Group; in 2006 she sold the rest of her shares.[4] In 2016, she and partners launched a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine.[1] In June 5, 2018 she was found dead from apparent suicide by hanging in her Manhattan apartment.

Kate Spade logo

Early life

Brosnahan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of June (Mullen) and Earl Francis Brosnahan.[5] She was of mostly Irish descent.[5] She graduated from St. Teresa's Academy, an all-girl Catholic high school. She attended the University of Kansas and then transferred to Arizona State University, joined Kappa Kappa Gamma, and graduated with a degree in journalism in 1985.[6]

In 1986, Spade worked in the accessories department at Mademoiselle in Manhattan, where she was credited in the magazine's masthead by her maiden name, as Katy Brosnahan. While at Mademoiselle, she moved in with Andy Spade, a native of Scottsdale, Arizona. The two had worked side-by-side as salespersons in a men's clothing store, Carter's Men Shop, in Phoenix.[7]

She left Mademoiselle in 1991, with the title of senior fashion editor/head of accessories[8]. While working for Mademoiselle, she had noticed that the market lacked stylish and sensible handbags, and decided to create her own.[9]

Career

A Kate Spade New York store
Main article: Kate Spade New York

Kate and Andy Spade launched the New York–based design company "kate spade handbags" in January 1993.[10] The company sold mainly handbags at first, but soon extended to clothing, jewelry, shoes, stationery, eyewear, baby items, fragrances, tabletop, bedding and gifts. In 1996, the Kate Spade brand opened its first boutique, a 400-square-foot shop located in Manhattan's trendy SoHo district, and moved its headquarters into a 10,000-square-foot space in West 25th Street.[11]

In 2004, "Kate Spade at home" was launched as a home collection brand. It featured bedding, bath items, china, wallpaper and various items for the home.[12] She also shared about her personal style and philosophies in her three books: Manners, Occasions, and Style. In 2004 a store was opened in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.[13]

Neiman Marcus Group purchased 56% of the Kate Spade brand in 1999, and the remaining 44% in 2006.[4] Neiman Marcus sold the Kate Spade label in 2006 for $124 million to Liz Claiborne Inc., which was later renamed to Fifth & Pacific.[4][14] In February 2014, Fifth & Pacific changed its name to Kate Spade & Company.[15] Coach, Inc. acquired Kate Spade for $2.4 billion in May 2017.[16]

Frances Valentine

After selling the remaining portion of her ownership stake in the Kate Spade brand in 2006,[4] Spade took time off to raise her daughter. In 2016, she and her partners launched a new brand called Frances Valentine, a collection of luxury footwear and handbags.[17] The name for the new brand is derived from Frances, a longtime family name on her paternal side. Spade's daughter is named Frances, as was her grandfather, father, and brother. The name Valentine came from Spade's maternal side; it was her grandfather's middle name – he was born on Valentine's Day. In 2016, Spade changed her surname to Valentine as well.[1][18][failed verification]

Personal life and death

Spade married Andy Spade, the brother of actor/comedian David Spade, in 1994.[5] The couple had one child, Frances Beatrix Spade, born in 2005.[19] The actress Rachel Brosnahan is Spade's niece.[20]

A housekeeper found Spade dead from apparent suicide by hanging in her Manhattan apartment on June 5, 2018. The police said she had left a note addressed to her daughter.[21]

Awards

In 1996, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Spade "America's New Fashion Talent in Accessories" for her classic designs. In 1998, CFDA again honored her for "Best Accessory Designer of the Year".[22]

Her home collection won her three design awards in 2004, including, House Beautiful's "Giants of Design Award for Tastemaker", Bon Appétit's "American Food and Entertaining Award for Designer of the Year", and Elle Decor's "Elle Decor International Design Award for Bedding".[22]

In 2017, she was inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.[23]

Also in 2017, she was named one of the Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Kapner, Suzanne (August 23, 2016). "When Is Kate Spade Not Kate Spade? When She's Frances Valentine". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 24, 2016. one of her first acts was to find a new name. Now, she's Katherine Noel Frances Valentine Brosnahan. In stores, she's Frances Valentine.
  2. ^ "Kate & Andy Spade Interview on How I Built This by Guy Raz". NPR. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  3. ^ Ana Colon. "Designer Kate Spade Name Change Frances Valentine". Refinery29.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Neiman Marcus to Sell Kate Spade". The Wall Street Journal. New York City. November 8, 2006. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  5. ^ a b c "Irish American fashion designer Kate Spade dead of apparent suicide". Irish Central. June 5, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018. Three of her great-grandparents were Irish emigrants.
  6. ^ Bumiller, Elisabeth (March 12, 1999). "PUBLIC LIVES; A Cautious Rise to a Top Name in Fashion". The New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Ellyn Spragins, How We Bagged Our Careers", Fortune Small Business, September 1, 2003.
  8. ^ "Kate Spade, American Designer Whose Bags Carried Women Into Adulthood, Is Dead at 55". www.msn.com. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  9. ^ Lieber, Chavie (March 2, 2016). "Kate Spade Brand Bags". Racked.com. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  10. ^ "Kate Spade Biography". Biography.com. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "kate spade LLC – Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on kate spade LLC" Reference for Business. retrieved May 15, 2015.
  12. ^ "Kate Spade Announces the Launch of kate spade Home; Company Signs Licensing Agreements with Scalamandre Lenox, And Springs".
  13. ^ Abbey, Cherie D., ed. (2007). Biography today : profiles of people of interest to young readers. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics. p. 137–140. ISBN 078080970X.
  14. ^ "Kate Spade Seems Totally Detached From Her Multimillion Dollar Namesake Brand". Business Insider. Retrieved June 9, 2016.
  15. ^ Lockwood, Lisa (February 3, 2014). "Kate Spade Gears Up for Growth". WWD. Retrieved February 4, 2014.
  16. ^ Petroff, Alanna (May 8, 2017). "Coach Kate Spade Takeover". CNN. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  17. ^ "Meet Kate & Andy Spade's New Venture, Frances Valentine". Fast Company. August 8, 2016. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  18. ^ Iredale, Jessica (November 4, 2015). "Kate Spade, the Person, Has a New Venture: Frances Valentine". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  19. ^ "Kate Spade's Frances Valentine collection was named after late designer's daughter". Newsweek. June 5, 2018.
  20. ^ Schmidt, Ingrid (October 13, 2015). "Rachel Brosnahan of 'Manhattan' undertakes her own special fashion project". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2017.
  21. ^ Bromwich, Jonah Engel; Friedman, Vanessa; Schneier, Matthew (June 5, 2018). "Kate Spade, Whose Handbags Carried Women Into Adulthood, Is Dead at 55". New York Times. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Gundry, Lisa; Kickul, Jill. Entrepreneurship Strategy: Changing Patterns in New Venture Creation, Growth, and Reinvention. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781483316857.
  23. ^ "Honoring Role Models" (Press release). UMKC Today. March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017. {{cite press release}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  24. ^ "Check out Kate Valentine, one of Fast Company's Most Creative People". Fast Company. January 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.

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