The couple in their Manhattan apartment
I ask you, who couldn't love the Spades? This power couple knows how to brand, market, sell, and live well. They have created their own distinct looks that are so frequently copied by others that in turn it makes them seem unoriginal. Not so. These two are a continual flowing fountain of creativity and subtle humor whether it be a pair of gloves or a valentine's gallery of relationships gone awry.
Kate and Andy met while working at a department store in college, eventually married, and moved to New York to pursue their dreams of design. Andy used his superior advertising skills and cashed in his 401k to take a chance on his wife and her concept for the simple handbag. Their idea caught fire, expanding so rapidly they could barely keep up with it. Although the two sold their companies kate spade/jack spade in 2006, they keep busy with the Avant Garde Preschool, a Saturday program that promotes creativity in the lives of New York children, and Partners and Spade, a grown up fun shop that showcases artwork, globes, bikes, and at times tax advice. Andy and Kate are all about innovation and good design, but they always add that element of cleverness and surprise that give their pieces the signature mark of unpretentiousness.
I have not met either of the Spades, but from what I hear from my sister and from their contemporaries, Andy and his wife are among the most fascinating of modern couples. They have worked hard together and have stayed together. The two of them give me hope that I will one day find a counterpart that would believe in me so much that he would even offer to bet his life savings on my ability to make a handbag.
That is trust.
An image from one of the Spades' first ad campaigns for Kate.
(If I am not mistaken, that is a young Matthew Gubler from
(500) Days of Summer on the right)
The lovely Kate as seen in Pink magazine
Andy at Partners & Spade
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