Kate Spade Reorganizes Creative Leadership
● Nicola Glass is exiting her role as creative director.
Kate Spade New York, a division of Tapestry Inc., is reorganizing its creative organizational structure.
Nicola Glass, creative director of Kate Spade, will leave the company on April 1. The brand has started a search for a head of product design who will lead design across all categories, including handbags and accessories, ready- towear, jewelry, footwear and licensing categories. During the search, the design team will report directly to Liz Fraser, president and chief executive officer of Kate Spade, working closely with the brand’s senior leadership team.
“We are grateful to Nicola for her contributions to Kate Spade. Nicola helped us to take important steps forward, including rebuilding the core of our handbag assortment and enhancing our product quality, while creating iconic and proprietary elements that distinguish our brand.
She has also established an incredibly talented design team who will continue to honor our brand’s legacy and drive our business into the future,” Fraser said.
In the new creative organizational structure, the company has decided to name two roles, senior vice president, brand concept and strategy, and head of product design. These leaders will partner with Jenny Campbell, senior vice president, chief marketing officer, and Michele Parsons, senior vice president, chief merchandising officer, to ensure a consistent brand experience across all consumer touchpoints.
Kristen Naiman, who has been senior vice president, brand creative at Kate Spade for the past seven years, will assume the role of senior vice president, brand concept and strategy, effective April 1. She will be responsible for the creation, publication and socialization of brand storytelling platforms, helping set the vision and lead the creation of all brand elements across customer touchpoints, as well as annual and seasonal concept, print and color direction. She reports to Fraser.
Glass, who joined Kate Spade in November 2017 succeeding Deborah Lloyd, was previously with Michael Kors as senior vice president of accessories design, overseeing all design and development of Michael Kors Collection and Michael Michael Kors. Glass had been with Kors since 2004. The Belfastborn Glass previously worked at Gucci as an accessories designer.
In a review for pre- fall 2020, WWD described Glass’s work: “Playfulness mixed with pragmatism, something the brand is known for and now several seasons in, a prospect Glass continues to deliver on.” Her fashion shows featured a diverse cast of models and influencers and a wide age range.
“Kate Spade is a unique global lifestyle brand and with a loyal and passionate following,” Fraser said. “Over the past year, we’ve worked diligently to build a strong foundation for our future. We have made significant progress, refocusing on our core collection and bringing newness to the assortment to reflect the brand’s distinct DNA.” She said the company has reimagined its creative structure, centered on collaboration. “I am incredibly optimistic for our future, and confident that these changes will further position us to win with our customer in product, innovation, digital community and storytelling,” Fraser said.