Kate Spade, husband create new Frances Valentine bag, shoe line
Kate Spade and her husband have created a new shoe and bag line called Frances Valentine, a combination of two family names. Credit: Jamie Beck
What’s in a name? Plenty, especially if you’re a major designer who’s sold her name but wants to keep on designing.
Take Kate Spade — but if you do, you better get used to calling her Valentine.
The woman once known as Kate Spade recently changed her name to Kate Valentine, to align more closely with her new brand of shoes and handbags launched last month. That new brand is called Frances Valentine, derived from two family names, and created with her longtime business partner (and husband) Andy Spade.
Her old label, Kate Spade New York, which she and her husband built into a popular accessories business in the 1990s, is still thriving, but sans Spades. (They left in 2007, one year after Liz Claiborne Inc. bought the brand for $124 million.)
In the years that followed, the couple enjoyed their freedom. (Hey, wouldn’t you?) While her husband started a creative agency and launched a brand of sleepwear, then-Spade-now-Valentine focused on raising their daughter. The time off from designing did her good.
“It freed me up to start with a clean slate and create something new,” Valentine says.
Fans of the old Kate Spade should like the new one. The Frances Valentine brand retains the designer’s wit and eye for color, but is a tad more refined, and focused on shoes (vivid pumps; delicate, tasseled T-straps; sandals with geodesic heels; and more), priced $245 and up. Bag lovers will go for the smart wicker satchels or striking metallic totes, about $345 and up. Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom and Shopbop.com currently carry the line.
“I feel like my aesthetic has evolved,” Valentine says. “I still love the unexpected, but I’m paying close attention to the architecture. It’s similar to a designer moving from one house to another.”
Stylish sleeper
After Kate Spade New York scored big with consumers, the brand rolled out Jack Spade, a line of sleek messenger bags and hip men’s accessories that borrowed from Andy Spade’s love of quirky, retro objects. In 2013, Andy Spade helped launched Sleepy Jones, a line of men’s and women’s sleep and loungewear — from socks ($24) to silk robes $328 — with appropriately laid-back attitude. “We’re starting a little movement of non-movement,” the website explains. “Just kick your pants off. . . . Ponder in your underwear. Picasso did. And it worked out pretty well for him.” Here, the gingham pajama shirt, $128, at sleepyjones.com
