Overview
Kate Spade New York began in Manhattan in 1993 with six handbags conceived around clear geometry, functional construction and an immediately legible label. Kate Spade, then Kate Brosnahan, led product and design; Andy Spade shaped the business, name and advertising voice; Pamela Bell brought production expertise; and Elyce Arons developed sales, marketing and public relations. The company grew first through wholesale, opening its own SoHo boutique in 1996 and adding the named Kate Spade Paper stationery line in 1998. Neiman Marcus acquired majority control in 1999, while the founders remained involved through the expansion of footwear, travel, fragrance, home and other lifestyle categories.
The founders sold their remaining equity in 2006 and left day-to-day operations in 2007. Deborah Lloyd joined that November as Co-President and Chief Creative Officer, broadened ready-to-wear into a durable mainline from 2009 and directed a decade of global lifestyle expansion. Coach completed its acquisition of Kate Spade & Company in July 2017 and became Tapestry later that year. Nicola Glass joined as Creative Director in January 2018, introduced a new archive-led accessories vocabulary and staged the brand’s first runway for Spring 2019. After her April 2021 departure, product and brand direction were split across an interim creative organisation before Tom Mora and Jennifer Lyu became the paired principal designers in September 2022.
Kate Spade New York remains part of Tapestry and operates as a global lifestyle brand centred on handbags and accessories with ready-to-wear, jewellery, footwear, home and licensed categories. Mora and Lyu’s paired leadership ended during 2024. Tapestry announced Jonathan Saunders as Executive Creative Director on 21 July 2026, effective 26 August 2026, with a remit spanning product design and brand visual identity. No first Saunders collection had been announced as of 9 August 2026.
Philosophy
Kate Spade New York was built on the idea that an everyday object could be concise, useful and visually distinctive at the same time. The early bags used direct shapes, limited hardware, satin-finished nylon and webbing-like handles, with the external label acting as a small graphic signature. Sam, the foundational 1993 bag, condensed these choices into a boxy carryall that remained easy to recognise without elaborate ornament. Colour, wit and practical proportion became durable house codes as the assortment expanded.
The founders extended that logic into stationery, travel, footwear, fragrance and home through a mix of in-house direction and specialist partners. Under Deborah Lloyd, the vocabulary became a broader lifestyle proposition: feminine ready-to-wear, polished accessories, novelty motifs and interiors carried the same upbeat New York tone across many product categories. Nicola Glass later returned to early handbag simplicity and made the spade itself a repeated design device through closures, prints, leather construction and the Spade Flower jacquard developed with Limonta.
Recent design leadership has kept accessories at the centre while using the archive as an active source for contemporary product. Tom Mora and Jennifer Lyu revived forms and details such as Sam and Noel, paired them with bright colour and cleaner sportswear, and worked across clothing and leather goods as one seasonal language. Across successive creative periods, the strongest continuity lies in disciplined utility, graphic clarity, an approachable sense of polish and a deliberate streak of humour.
Timeline
Disclaimer
Creative timeline
Button TextTapestry announced Jonathan Saunders as Executive Creative Director of Kate Spade New York on 21 July 2026, with his appointment effective 26 August. His remit spans product design and brand visual identity, placing one named creative leader across both areas.
Tom Mora and Jennifer Lyu both left Kate Spade New York during 2024, ending the paired product-leadership structure announced in 2022. Lyu remained publicly identified in her design role through the June HEINZ collaboration, leaving her as the later confirmed member of the pair that year.
Kate Spade New York and HEINZ launched a joint capsule on 26 June 2024 spanning bags, small leather goods, clothing, footwear and accessories. Jennifer Lyu discussed the design direction in her role as SVP and Head of Design, connecting the collaboration to the final phase of her accessories leadership.
Kate Spade New York formally named Jennifer Lyu SVP and Head of Design, Leather Goods and Accessories on 7 September 2022. She became one of the brand's paired principal product designers, leading handbags and accessories alongside Tom Mora's clothing and lifestyle remit.
Kate Spade New York formally named Tom Mora SVP and Head of Design, RTW and Lifestyle Categories on 7 September 2022. He became one of the brand's paired principal product designers, leading clothing and lifestyle categories alongside Jennifer Lyu's accessories remit.
From 1 April 2021 Kate Spade divided creative responsibilities across Brand Concept & Strategy and product design during the search for a new Head of Product Design. Kristen Naiman led seasonal concept, print, colour and storytelling, and the product team reported to brand leadership during the interim period.
Kate Spade announced Nicola Glass's departure on 4 March 2021, effective 1 April. Her exit ended the single Creative Director structure that had guided product, image and retail expression since 2018.
Nicola Glass joined Kate Spade New York in January 2018 as Creative Director following her appointment announcement of 8 November 2017. Her remit covered product design, brand imagery and store environments across the house.
Tapestry announced on 8 November 2017 that Deborah Lloyd would leave Kate Spade during 2018 and named Nicola Glass as her successor. Lloyd remained the author of Fall 2018, presented in February 2018, which became her final collection for the brand.
Coach completed its acquisition of Kate Spade & Company on 11 July 2017 in a transaction valued at approximately $2.4 billion. Kate Spade New York entered the group that became Tapestry later that year, setting the ownership context for the next creative succession.
Fall 2009, reviewed on 26 March 2009, was identified as Kate Spade New York's inaugural apparel collection under Deborah Lloyd. The season established a broad recurring ready-to-wear line alongside the house's established accessories business.
Resort 2009, reviewed on 18 June 2008, was Deborah Lloyd's first full collection for Kate Spade New York. It established her seasonal authorship ahead of the broader apparel line that followed.
Deborah Lloyd joined Kate Spade LLC on 1 November 2007 as Co-President and Chief Creative Officer. She assumed responsibility for the brand's creative direction and became the principal post-founder creative leader.
Kate and Andy Spade's principal post-acquisition service period ended in mid-June 2007, closing the founders' day-to-day leadership of Kate Spade New York. Kate left the company, and Andy continued a narrower advertising role through the end of 2007.
Liz Claiborne Inc. acquired 100% of Kate Spade LLC from Neiman Marcus on 13 December 2006 for approximately $124 million plus transaction costs and adjustments. Kate and Andy Spade remained temporarily under service agreements as the company entered post-founder ownership.
Neiman Marcus announced on 3 November 2006 that it would acquire the founders' remaining 44% interest in Kate Spade LLC. The transaction ended the four founders' equity ownership before the company changed hands again the following month.
Kate Spade released a limited apparel capsule with the New York collective As Four in 2005 through selected boutiques. The project brought Gabi Asfour back into the brand's clothing story and gave the founder era a distinct fashion collaboration.
Kate Spade entered home in stages during 2004 through specialist partners covering tabletop, bedding, towels, rugs, wallpaper and fabric. The expansion carried the brand's colour, pattern and domestic wit into interiors as a substantial lifestyle category.
Kate Spade previewed uniforms for Delta Air Lines' Song service in September 2003, with the wardrobe entering service in 2004. Kate Spade handled women's uniforms and accessories, and Andy Spade with Jack Spade developed the men's side of the commission.
Kate Spade launched its completed beauty and fragrance offer with Estée Lauder in May 2002 after an earlier development agreement. The release extended the brand's lifestyle identity into scent and beauty during the founders' expansion period.
Neiman Marcus Group acquired a 56% interest in Kate Spade LLC in February 1999 for $33.6 million. The four founders retained a combined 44% stake and continued leading the company through its next phase of growth.
Kate Spade Paper launched in August 1998 as a named stationery extension sold through the SoHo store. Cards, notebooks and related paper goods carried the brand's graphic voice into a durable lifestyle category.
Gabi Asfour worked with Kate Spade on an early clothing line active by the late 1990s and connected to a Japanese partner. The work included straightforward wardrobe pieces and established a founder-era apparel strand before the later mainline ready-to-wear expansion.
The first owned Kate Spade boutique opened at 59 Thompson Street in SoHo in 1996 after three years of wholesale-led growth. The small New York shop gave the young label a dedicated physical setting for its handbags and developing accessories world.
Kate Spade New York began in New York in 1993 with a six-handbag line presented to wholesale buyers. Kate Spade, Andy Spade, Pamela Bell and Elyce Arons formed the founding group, combining product design, brand direction, production, sales and communications.
Kate Spade New York divisions and related structures
The brand expanded from handbags through named lines, core fashion categories and long-running licensed categories. The structures below separate durable brand extensions from individual product launches.
Named lines and related brands
- Kate Spade Paper
- Stationery and paper goods, launched in August 1998.
- The first clearly named lifestyle extension moved Kate Spade’s graphic language into cards, notebooks and related paper goods. A later 2005 agreement with Crane & Co. continued the stationery business without resetting the original launch date.
- Jack Spade
- Separate men’s sibling brand conceived by Andy Spade in 1997.
- Jack Spade began with men’s bags and opened a dedicated SoHo store in 1999. Corporate filings treated it as its own brand and trademark. Company-owned stores closed in 2015 as the business shifted towards wholesale and e-commerce.
- Kate Spade Saturday
- Lower-priced related brand launched in Japan in 2012 and expanded to the United States in 2013.
- Saturday developed a younger weekend wardrobe and retail identity within the Kate Spade brand family. Kate Spade & Company discontinued it as a standalone business in 2015 and absorbed selected elements into Kate Spade New York.
Fashion and lifestyle categories
- Ready-to-wear
- Founder-era experiments preceded the durable mainline introduced in 2009.
- Gabi Asfour worked with Kate Spade on an early clothing line active by the late 1990s, while a broad recurring ready-to-wear collection became established under Deborah Lloyd from Fall 2009.
- Home
- Staged lifestyle expansion launched in 2004 through specialist partners.
- Lenox handled china, crystal and tabletop; Springs Industries developed bedding, towels and rugs; and Scalamandré produced fabric and wallpaper. Home remained part of the wider lifestyle assortment in later years.
- Beauty and fragrance
- Partner-developed category launched with Estée Lauder in May 2002.
- Fragrance became a recurring licensed category and is currently represented through an Interparfums agreement extending into fiscal 2030.
- Eyewear
- Established by 2002 and subsequently maintained through licensing.
- Eyewear formed part of the founder-era lifestyle expansion and is currently licensed to Safilo through fiscal 2031.
- Watches
- Licensed accessories category developed through successive specialist partners.
- Kate Spade entered a global Fossil agreement in 2015 for watches beginning in 2016. Movado Group became the global watch licensee effective 1 July 2026, with its first collection scheduled for Spring 2027.
- Footwear, travel and licensed lifestyle goods
- Category expansion beginning around 2000 and continuing through current licensing.
- Footwear entered the assortment around 2000 and travel followed around late 2001. Current licensing also covers tech accessories, sleepwear, fashion bedding and stationery/gift goods.
Kate Spade New York collaborations
Collaborative work has ranged from apparel and uniforms to textile development, colour standards and commercial capsules. The entries below focus on projects with a clear creative contribution.
Fashion, uniform and material collaborations
- Gabi Asfour
- Early apparel development, active by the late 1990s.
- Asfour worked directly with Kate Spade on clothing connected to a Japanese partner, developing T-shirts, wrap skirts, polos, coats and other straightforward wardrobe pieces. United States activity ended in 2001 while work continued in Asia.
- Song by Delta Air Lines
- Uniform commission previewed in 2003 and used from 2004.
- Kate Spade designed women’s uniforms and accessories for Delta’s Song airline, while Andy Spade and Jack Spade handled the men’s uniforms. The project translated the brands’ everyday design language into a service wardrobe.
- As Four
- Limited-edition apparel capsule released in 2005.
- The New York collective created a compact clothing collaboration for selected Kate Spade boutiques. The project extended earlier contact with Gabi Asfour into a distinct retail capsule.
- Limonta
- Textile development for Spade Flower Jacquard.
- The northern Italian mill worked with Kate Spade on the woven Spade Flower material used across handbag shapes by the Nicola Glass period, giving the house’s spade motif a durable textile form.
Colour and commercial capsules
- Pantone
- Kate Spade Green, introduced for the brand’s 30th anniversary in 2023.
- Tom Mora and Jennifer Lyu worked with Pantone on a calibrated green drawn from one of the house’s most recognisable colours, using it across the Fall 2023 collection and anniversary context.
- HEINZ
- Food-and-fashion capsule released in June 2024.
- The collaboration covered totes, pouches, small leather goods, T-shirts, footwear, keychains and phone cases, with Jennifer Lyu directly discussing the design direction while serving as SVP and Head of Design.
