Kate Spade shows many colours, but no room for black

New York Public Library, scene of Carrie Bradshaw’s infamous humiliation when Mr Big jilted her at the altar, was the setting for Kate Spade’s first ever catwalk show yesterday.

New York fashionistas were once famous for wearing black but this audience was dressed as colourfully as the models. The front row included the model Suki Waterhouse and actresses Kate Bosworth, Elizabeth Olsen and Priyanka Chopra (possibly best known for popping up at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding).

The decision to elevate the label’s traditional static presentations is strategic. Kate Spade, the eponymous founder and designer, died in June and the story of this private woman attracted global attention to a degree that no one could have foreseen, least of all Spade, who maintained a low-key private life and had not been professionally connected with her brand since 2007.

But something about her story – the contrast between public sunniness and personal anguish – struck a chord. For days after the news broke, bouquets were laid outside Kate Spade stores – a testament to those she had touched with her democratically priced design, but a possible issue for a brand predicated on carefree pops of colour and joie de vivre.

Nicola Glass, the newly installed creative director, seems unshaken in her determination to maintain Kate Spade as a “happy’’ label. She sent out a succession of floaty semi-fitted Seventies-inspired dresses, highwaisted trousers and peplum tops. Patterns clashed, amicably; accessories popped (lilac kneehigh boots and a neat new shoulder bag). The Seventies vibe fits with fashion’s current aesthetic, and while much is made of New York Fashion Week’s demise, many of its biggest names having moved to Europe, it can still bring the city to a standstill.