kate-spade
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Tapestry and the art of wanting less
After an $8.5 billion deal fell apart, the owner of Coach and Kate Spade had a smaller portfolio to work with. The interesting part is what happened inside it.
Joanne Crevoiserat and the value of a first impression
She entered retail for the chance to take responsibility early. Now Tapestry’s CEO is betting that a young customer’s first handbag can begin a relationship that lasts for years.
Elyce Arons and the business of keeping a friend’s good taste
A Kansas dorm-room friendship helped launch Kate Spade. At Frances Valentine, Elyce Arons is still turning shared jokes, vintage finds and clothes worth keeping into the next chapter.
Katherine Brodie
Katherine Brodie is the Chief Marketing Officer of Frances Valentine, the New York fashion house co-founded by Elyce Arons with her best friend, the late Kate Spade, and Andy Spade. Brodie joined in January 2025 after roughly two decades spent building direct-to-consumer engines for design-led brands: eCommerce at Kate Spade, digital marketing at C. Wonder and Club Monaco, eCommerce at Reese Witherspoon's Draper James, and VP of Marketing & eCommerce at Rifle Paper Co., followed by a VP of Marketing post at CAKE. At Frances Valentine she runs a marketing operation that behaves less like a department and more like a production studio - video-first storytelling, creator-style content, and a community organized around color and joy. The strategic bet is contrarian by industry standards: while most fashion brands chase shoppers under 35, Brodie's team has built a viral social presence around women 50 and up, with Arons herself as the on-camera personality. The approach has coincided with rapid growth for the brand across e-commerce, its expanding retail fleet, and wholesale.
Frances Valentine
Frances Valentine is a New York-based, vintage-inspired fashion label founded in 2016 by Kate Spade, Andy Spade, Elyce Arons and Paola Venturi - the same circle behind the original Kate Spade brand. It designs joyful, color-forward apparel, handbags, shoes, jewelry and accessories built to transcend trends, sold primarily direct-to-consumer online and through a small network of owned stores. The brand pairs quality craftsmanship with a playful, heritage-minded aesthetic drawn from mid-century style icons, aiming to make everyday dressing fun.