Kate Spade was an American fashion designer, businesswoman and the former co-owner of the designer brand, 'Kate Spade New York'. In 2006, she sold her stake in the company. In 2016, she, along with her partners, started a new handbags and footwear brand, ‘Frances Valentine’. Kate Spade has come a long way since she started her career way back in the early 1990s when she worked for ‘Mademoiselle’, a women’s magazine. Working at the accessories department of the magazine, Spade realized the need for stylish handbags. In 1993, she started her own venture, ‘Kate Spade Handbags’, along with Andy Spade, who she later married. A boutique store once, today Kate Spade Handbags (now known as Kate Spade & Company) have created a niche for itself in the global retail segment. Her products have a playful sophistication about them, which adds a dash of incandescent charm to the everyday style. Fashioned in crisp colours and graphic prints, Spade created a trademark with her visual shorthand. In her active years at the company, Spade extended its product line extensively before finally giving up the reigns. In 2016, Spade resurfaced into the retail segment with her new brand, ‘Frances Valentine’, and hoped to repeat history with her new line-up. Her life was cut short when she committed a suicide in 2018.