It is natural to assume that the handbag line Kate Spade is named for the woman who designs it.
But that’s only half true.
Kate Spade is the company name that was dreamed up by one Kate Brosnahan and her then-boyfriend, Andy Spade. It was to be an amalgamation of their monikers – not a celebration of the purse princess’s future married name.
Though it’s a fact that never seems to be mentioned, Andy Spade claims he doesn’t care that his name is not on the multi-million dollar handbag line of which he is the creative director. Nor does he mind being better known as “Kate Spade’s husband” than as her business equal (he’s also president of the Kate Spade company).
“I feel lucky it’s not me. I wouldn’t want to do what [Kate] has to do to,” Andy says of the never-ending stream of interviews and promotional appearances that his wife has to make.
And then there’s another often overlooked fact. Spade has another famous family member – comedian and “Just Shoot Me” star David Spade is Andy’s brother. (In fact the women on the NBC sitcom carry – what else? – Kate Spade bags almost exclusively.)
“[David] gets bothered everywhere he goes,” Andy says. “It would be great if you were able to do something [high profile] that were passionate about and not get bothered in public.”
Maybe, then, it’s for the sake of anonymity that Andy has chosen not to slap his name on the new line of men’s bags he’s designing. Instead, they’re called Jack Spade – in honor of beloved Jacks in both Kate and Andy’s families.
“If I put my name on it, I was afraid it would become more about a person and less about the bags,” Andy says. “Jack Spade is more about the product than it is about me.”
Still, the line does take cues from the slight Spade’s own preppy style. The day we spoke, he was classically dressed in murky wide-wale cords, a neat red checked button-down and V-neck sweater under a tweedy blazer, and sensible brown oxfords – a timeless, unassuming look that he wore with confidence and ease.
Born in Michigan and raised in Arizona, Spade met the woman who would become his wife when both were in school at Arizona State University. The future designing duo worked side-by-side in a Paul Stuart-esque men’s clothing store, and moved to the East Coast together after graduation in 1985.
At that time, neither had designs on becoming fashion folk. Andy worked as a copywriter at chic advertising firms like Satchi & Satchi; Kate turned a temp position at Mademoiselle into a full-time editing gig.
Kate’s job allowed her to become a handbag expert, where she saw a void between high-dollar designer purses and practical totes. She was inspired to create a handbag that was neither too haute nor too schlumpy and left the magazine world in 1993 to market her idea.
Just a few years later, thousands of upwardly mobile young gals were shouldering Kate Spade’s cute clutches satchels. Profits were rolling in. So, in 1996, a year after marrying his longtime love, Andy left advertising to join Kate Spade full-time.
The next four years were lucrative, to say the least. In 1998, the company generated $28 million in sales; last year, Neiman Marcus bought 56 percent of the company from the Spades and their two partners for $33.6 million.
With the company running smoothly and growing larger every day (Kate Spade now counts stationary, clothing and shoes among its wares and is now working on a new cosmetics line for Estee Lauder), Andy found himself itching for a new creative outlet. So he began making his own desingns – sturdy canvas tool bags that he sold in a SoHo hardware store in 1997. They were a hit with carpenters and hipsters alike.
Andy admits that were it not for the success of Kate Spade, Jack Spade would have probably never been born. Kate Spade, the company, has not only taught him how to go about manufacturing bags, but how to read the industry. “I know what else is out there and what doesn’t need to be repeated,” says Andy. “Plus, I know what I like – things that are handsome, but not too fashion-y.”
Indeed, the Jack Spade line features classic styles done up in sturdy materials like canvas and waxwear and in traditional colors including orange, brown and beige. There are messenger bags, satchels, dopp kits and duffels – even bags designed for urban outdoorsmen to carry logs from the corner bodega to their fireplace. (Andy hints that guitar cases and tents might be future projects.)
Though Jack Spade has been available in the basements and back rooms of Kate Spade boutiques since early last year, the only place one can find the entire collection is at the new Jack Spade store, at 56 Greene Street – just around the corner from Kate Spade’s flagship Broome Street digs.
The store is small – a mere 700 square feet – but well-stocked with not only the Jack line, but several items of non-Spade accessories and outerwear that Andy has deemed classic (navy blue Tretorns and striped Dutch army scarves, for instance).
Best of all, the SoHo Jack store’s shelves and windows are packed with tres cool tchotchkes that Andy trolls for in out-of-the-way antique stores and hardware shops. There are vintage turntables, motorcycle helmets, and ’60s-era Playboys on display, not to mention small collections of champagne corks, tiny electric trains, random keys and air mail envelopes that are kept in long, narrow drawers in a tall wooden shelf.
Everything’s for sale – and everything fits into Jack’s clean, traditional aesthetic.
Andy hopes that the store, which has been open since mid-December, will become a neighborhood hangout of sorts. There is a bulletin board where visitors are encouraged to post articles they find inspiring, photos or graphics they like, and even items they have for sale or rent. There are plans for Friday night cocktail mixers as well.
After all, all work and no play makes Jack Spade a dull boy.