FASHION FEATURE

Get up close and personal with newly minted Kate Spade Creative director, Nicola Glass, as she talks about what’s next for the brand

We get up close and personal with Kate Spade’s new creative director

Kate Spade just recently had two presentations (spring/summer ‘19 and fall/winter ‘ 19 respectively) under the baton of its new Creative Director, Nicola Glass, and the buzz on the label has been nonstop. The Michael Kors and Gucci alum has brought her own brand of cool to the label, making it exciting and fresh. Successfully integrating the brand’s legacy and bringing it to the next level, Glass modernizes its appeal by crafting pieces women would want to wear now—think cool prints, unexpected silhouettes, and even sinuous fabrics. Lastly, her attention to the bags and accessories, such as the use of a heart shaped lock that transforms into a spade when opened are definitely so extra.

WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE RTW COLLECTION? For Fall 2019, I envisioned women who are looking for clothes that are spirited, feminine and fundamentally effortless. Throughout the collection, there’s a 70s meets 40s mix, but with a new take on the 70s—not in a retro way, but something that feels right for now. There are fluid silhouettes and fabrics, and sophisticated takes on color-blocking. There’s a soft glamour to this collection...an easy fluidity.

This season, we maintain that sense of polished ease while injecting soft glamour and decadence into the collection. Styling is focused on mixing prints, fluid fabrics and rich textures, as well as layering. The looks are punctuated with playful accessories.

There was an explosion of mixed animal prints across categories, including leopard, printed python, patent croco and more. I love prints that ignite a sense of discovery: we have one floral print that actually looks like an animal print from a distance.

We continue to evolve the color palette with colors that escalate from rich to vibrant. We focused on juxtaposition this season by mixing rich solids with pops of bright shades. Color mixes I’m loving include golden raisin yellow with spruce green and pops of pink tones, like ruffled pansy, with spearmint.

Overall, we are elevating our assortment and evolving core concepts with new takes on thoughtful, sophisticated design techniques, all creating easy, sensual details that are polished and put-together.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR THI S SEASON AND HOW YOU CHOSE WHAT BAG DESIGN TO PUSH FOR? For fall, we are introducing new styles while evolving core groups with new colors, design details and novel moments. You’ll see an explosion of animal prints in natural and unexpected colors, along with feminine top handles and experimentation with scale.

One of the most important focus areas for me when I started was to establish iconic elements across categories that are consistent season to season. I began with the spade—I explored all types of spade treatments— both overt and bold and subtle and hidden, integrating it into patterns as well as functional closures. I’ve expanded upon this for fall, incorporating the signature spade heart twist lock—originally featured on the Spring 2019 Nicola bags—across the handbag collection in a variety of sizes and colors. A key new silhouette was the Romy top handle and satchel, which featured a smaller size of the signature spade heart twistlock.

Print is part of the brand’s DNA, so I really wanted to bring that element to the handbags for fall and play with new materials (like embossed leather croc and hair calf) that would bring the right balance of polish and playful to each piece.

THE STYLING OF THE BAGS ON THE RUNWAY HAD MODEL S CARRY TWO BAGS AT A TIME. WAS THI S DEL IBERATE? Yes! We’ve carried over the styling of "two bags, one look” from spring and summer into fall. It feels very real to me since it’s how most women carry their bags and provides an additional opportunity to style the new pieces in a personal way. I like the look of mixing two bags in the same color but in different materials, like mixing high shine, leather embossed croc with suede.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL

BE THE KEY TRENDS IN ACCESSORIES THI S SEASON? Accessories give women another opportunity to layer pieces, mix prints and textures, and really take a look to the next level. In addition to handbags, footwear and jewelry, I styled each runway look with turbans and hosiery during our New York Fashion Week show. The turban gives women another way to incorporate prints into their looks—it’s a natural evolution of the headscarf that our customer loves. We used hosiery as a new way to incorporate sparkle and shine into an outfit and I loved the idea of matching your tights to your shoes.