Kate Spade brand honors its late founder at New York fashion show
By Chris Michaud
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fashion brand Kate Spade on Friday staged its first runway show since its founder's death in June, paying tribute to the designer with cards placed on seats that recalled her "sparkle."
Spade, 55, killed herself in her Manhattan apartment on June 5 after what her husband said was years battling depression. Her death sent shockwaves through the fashion world and beyond.
"She left a little sparkle everywhere she went," read the cards at the much-anticipated Fashion Week show, which featured looks for Spring 2019 and was held at the famous New York Public Library.
The back of the cards starkly read "In loving memory 1962-2018."
On a glitter strewn runway, models glided by sporting a host of flowy dresses and separates rendered in the pastels, playful prints and floral patterns which became the signature looks associated with the Kate Spade brand's light-hearted philosophy.
Pants dropped either to mid-calf or just above the knee and outfits, including a few solids, were accessorized with oversized sunglasses and of course, handbags, the item that rocketed Spade to worldwide fame.
Befitting Spring, a color palette of pastel pinks, yellows and blues were turned out in lightweight fabrics which also included soft grays, white and cream.
About the closest thing to anything somber were separates in vivid blue and dresses that still popped with a black-and-white pattern.
Spade and her husband Andy, who together founded the hugely successful company, sold the brand more than 10 years ago and Friday's collection was created by the company's creative director Nicola Glass.
"Right from the beginning, I looked back before I moved forward," Glass said in recent interview published on footwearnews.com about the collection.
In the show's notes, Glass wrote "This collection has been given a lot of care, attention and love," with the looks described as "everyday luxuries rooted in realness."
