The joyful, vintage-inspired label built by the team behind Kate Spade - designed to make getting dressed fun again.
FRANCES VALENTINE — the New York fashion house whose name honors four generations of Kate Spade's family. Photographed for the record; brand mark courtesy francesvalentine.com.
In 1993, Elyce Arons and her best friend Kate Spade drove east from Kansas with an idea for a handbag. They turned it into one of the most recognizable names in American fashion. In 2016 - with Andy Spade and shoe designer Paola Venturi - they did the improbable thing: they started over.
Frances Valentine is a New York-based fashion label that designs women's apparel, handbags, shoes, jewelry and accessories. Its promise is unusually plain in an industry addicted to reinvention: make things people will still want to wear in ten years. The house describes its work as "mood-boosting clothing and accessories designed to transcend trends and make fashion fun."
The aesthetic is vintage-inspired without being costume. Prints, silhouettes and color palettes borrow from mid-century style icons - Mary Tyler Moore, Jackie Kennedy, Lucille Ball - then get reworked for a modern closet. The result is playful rather than precious: statement jackets, basket bags, bold sandals, patterned dresses meant to be reached for on a Tuesday.
The name is a family story. "Frances" was the name of Kate Spade's grandfather, father, brother and daughter; "Valentine" honored her maternal grandfather, who happened to be born on February 14. That warmth - the sense that a brand can be built from the people you love - runs through the company's voice and its three-word rallying cry: wear what makes you happy.
Kate Spade died in 2018, and Elyce Arons became chief executive. The company she leads is smaller and quieter than the giant she helped build the first time, and by design. Frances Valentine is independent, founder-run, and built to last rather than to flip.
Figures compiled from public company and press sources. Revenue and valuation are not publicly disclosed.
Frances Valentine sells to style-conscious women - many in their thirties and up - who are tired of disposable fashion and want pieces with staying power. The brand solves a specific frustration: closets full of trend-driven clothes that feel dated by the next season and rarely feel like fun.
Fast fashion trains shoppers to buy, discard and repeat. Frances Valentine designs against that cycle with timeless silhouettes meant to be kept.
Much of the market skews minimal and serious. The brand's counter-bet is color, print and personality - clothing that lifts a mood.
Thoughtful construction and high-quality fabrics aim for "heirloom-worthy" pieces intended to be worn, loved and passed down.
Every collection carries the founders' voice and history, giving customers a narrative - not just a garment - to buy into.
Accessories were the founding core - shoes and handbags led by designer Paola Venturi - and the range has grown into a full wardrobe.
Basket bags, totes, evening bags, shoulder and crossbody styles blending vintage silhouettes with modern craft.
Sandals, heels, flats and boots - an original category shaped by co-founder and shoe director Paola Venturi.
Dresses, caftans, tops, sweaters, jackets and pajamas in vintage prints and statement silhouettes.
Jewelry, belts, scarves, hats, cosmetic bags and eyewear that complete the color-forward look.
In a contemporary women's market that includes Kate Spade New York, Tory Burch, Clare V., Anthropologie and Boden, Frances Valentine competes less on scale than on provenance and point of view.
The first advantage is the founding team itself. Few new brands launch with three decades of proven instinct behind them - the same people who invented an American classic, applying what they learned to a fresh label. That expertise shows up in fit, in color, and in a customer relationship that started long before this company existed.
The second is the business model. Roughly 95% of revenue comes directly from customers, through the brand's own e-commerce site and a small network of owned stores, supplemented by pop-ups, trunk shows and a few selected wholesale partners. Cutting out most middlemen preserves margin and, more importantly, keeps the brand in direct conversation with the people who wear it.
The third is discipline about size. Frances Valentine doubled revenue during the pandemic on that direct model, and it took outside capital - a Series A in early 2023 - but it has stayed independent and founder-led rather than chasing hypergrowth. In a market that often confuses bigger with better, its bet is that a durable, joyful, mid-sized brand is worth building on its own terms.
Elyce Arons co-founds Kate Spade with her best friend, Andy Spade and others - launching an iconic handbag brand.
Arons helps steer the sale of Kate Spade to Neiman Marcus Group, closing one chapter of the founders' work.
Arons, Kate Spade, Andy Spade and Paola Venturi introduce a new label named for Kate Spade's family.
The brand opens its first physical store in November; Elyce Arons becomes chief executive.
Frances Valentine doubles revenue on its nearly all direct-to-consumer model.
Backed by Break Trail Ventures, Cashmere Fund, Curate Capital and BeckWay.
Arons publishes "We Might Just Make It After All," a New York Times best seller on her friendship with Kate Spade.
Explore the founders in their own words and see the products up close.
It was founded in 2016 by Elyce Arons, Kate Spade, Andy Spade and Paola Venturi - the same team behind the original Kate Spade brand.
Yes. It was co-founded by Kate Spade and her original business partners, but it is a separate, independent company from the Kate Spade New York brand now owned by Tapestry.
Vintage-inspired women's apparel, handbags, shoes, jewelry and accessories designed to be timeless and mood-boosting.
"Frances" was the name of Kate Spade's grandfather, father, brother and daughter; "Valentine" honored her maternal grandfather, who was born on Valentine's Day.
Primarily direct-to-consumer - about 95% of revenue comes from its own website and owned stores, supported by pop-ups, trunk shows and a few select retail partners.
Profile compiled from public sources, July 2026. Financial specifics not disclosed by the company are omitted or noted as approximate.