The Kate Spade brand became a household name because it did something other brands didn't

pulse

June 5, 2018 10:17 PM

Kate Spade, who died Tuesday in an apparent suicide, founded her eponymous handbag company in 1991. It was an about-face from the present luxury designs of the day — staid black leather bags, covered in logos.

It was an about-face from the present luxury designs of the day — staid black leather bags, covered in logos.
Today, it's common to see colorful designer handbags, and that's largely thanks to the Kate Spade brand.

Kate Spade was found dead on Tuesday in an apparent suicide. She was 55.

Spade and her husband founded the eponymous handbag brand in 1991. It now has more than 315 stores globally and sells Coach bought Kate Spade for $2.4 billion last year.

Founded in 1991, Kate Spade New York was unlike the grungy aesthetics of the '90s. Spade herself was frustrated by the era's stiff designs, which she told The Boston Globe in 1999 failed to balance functionality and fashion.

While colorful nylon totes seem like a given today, the handbags were unusual when they first launched. The first line was barred from consideration for a trade show because it lacked leather, according to the 1998 Forbes article.

“She knew what the fashion world needed before we did,” Joe Zeetold The New York Times following the announcement of Spade's death. “Kate just did what she felt was right, regardless of what the industry would think.”

The brand's Instagram account shares photos of white toast covered in rainbow sprinkles, boxy Kate Spade totes with candy or flowers peeking out, and quotes like, "She has a way with words, red lipstick and making an entrance."

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