Kate Spade CEO on creating social impact through collaboration

Liz Fraser is the CEO and brand president of iconic American accessories brand Kate Spade New York. Prior to her appointment in 2020, Fraser was the president of luxury womenswear brand Lafayette 148 New York.

In 2012 Fraser became the president of Marc Jacobs after over 13 years in the business before leaving to become the CEO of Anne Klein in 2015. Prior to joining the c-suite Fraser started her distinguished career in luxury retail apparel and fashion as a merchandising manager for Calvin Klein.

Here she speaks to Kate Spade New York’s latest campaign featuring American actress Stephanie Hsu and the brand’s social impact mission, which emphasises the importance of advocating for mental health awareness through collaboration.

Inside Retail: The Spring 2024 campaign seems to represent a milestone for Kate Spade New York. Could you walk us through the overarching theme and key elements of the campaign, and how it ties into the brand’s narrative and vision?

Liz Fraser: The Spring 2024 campaign, Time to Spring, pays homage to some of our most iconic brand codes – it’s bursting with joy, colour, and New York City – while celebrating the sense of hope and excitement that the bright arrival of spring brings. There’s nothing quite like the first hints of Spring in the City after winter. We pause to appreciate the small moments of joy as the season changes: the feeling of the sun on our faces; the smell of fresh flowers blooming in the park; the sound of birds chirping in the morning. It’s a magnetic feeling that creates connectivity as friends, families and communities come together.

We were thrilled to partner with actress Stephanie Hsu to bring the campaign to life. Stephanie so perfectly embodies the Kate Spade New York ethos. Her accomplished career in theatre, film and comedy enabled her to capture the sense of optimism and whimsy that we are aiming to deliver, and which we hope will spark joy for audiences around the globe. 

After celebrating our 30th anniversary last year, Time to Spring also feels relevant to where we are on our brand journey today. In the past few years, we have been focused on our heritage, our unique brand strengths, our purpose, and how to re-imagine those for today and into the future as we spring forward, and we have such exciting things in the works.

IR: Mental health awareness is a focal point for Kate Spade New York, as is evident in initiatives like the recent Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation x Kate Spade New York collection. How does the brand integrate social responsibility and advocacy into its core values, and what impact do you hope these efforts will have?

LF: Our brand purpose is centred around the idea that joy colours life. Joy can be playful and celebratory, found in the product we deliver, the content we share across our channels, the experiences we create for our community, or sparked by unexpected conversations people have in our stores. We also understand the deeper roots and greater meaning of joy. With our social impact mission – to empower women and girls by putting mental health at the heart of our approach – we aim to address a truer, fuller spectrum of joy.

For over a decade, Kate Spade New York has been investing to provide women and girls with access to mental health resources, globally advocating, and using our platform to help destigmatise mental health issues. Our efforts in this space continue to deepen. We are so proud of the work we have done thus far. And there is much more ahead.

We’re kicking off a year-long call-to-action that reinforces our commitment to helping customers seek their joy, as we expand our partnership with actress Taraji P. Henson’s The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation (BLHF).

In collaboration with Taraji and BLHF, we have released a limited-edition capsule collection – featuring a heart-shaped necklace made from green agate; and a T-shirt, which reads “Joy is an intention, not a destination” – both designed to signify the global connection of sisterhood and the intention of joy. One hundred per cent of profits from sales of the necklace and T-shirt in North America will benefit the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation.

The partnership between Kate Spade New York and BLHF began in 2022, when Taraji joined our Social Impact Council and expanded in April 2023, when we teamed up to open the first-of-its-kind She Care Wellness Pod at Alabama State University, creating more accessible mental health resources for women and girls on campuses at HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The second pod location opened at Hampton University in Virginia last year. And in April, we will open a third pod at Bennett College, an all-women’s HBCU in Greensboro, North Carolina.

As a brand, we will continue advocating, researching and investing in women’s and girls’ mental health throughout this year, while inviting our customers and community to join us on this journey and encouraging everyone to treat themselves with kindness, care and joy.

IR: Looking to this Autumn, can you offer a sneak peek into what we can anticipate from Kate Spade New York’s upcoming collection? Are there any new handbag pillars or design elements that consumers can look forward to? How does the brand continue to innovate and evolve its handbag offerings while staying true to its heritage and aesthetic?

LF: The Autumn 2024 collection, debuted during February New York Fashion Week, celebrates the brand’s iconic DNA and reimagines heritage brand codes, delivering a fresh take on vibrant colours, abstract prints, and seasonal layering, all with a nod to the brand’s signature charm and wit.

We’re excited to be reinvigorating our core handbag collections with elevated and iconic branding and hardware, as well as updated fashion shapes to register trend relevance within our biggest volume drivers.

With this, we are reintroducing our Spade Flower signature pattern within leather goods in our Spade Flower Jacquard collection. Hardware for this and the new Nouveau collection uses the Kate Spade brand lockup in plaque, which has proved successful in past collections and ties back to our iconic black label.

We’re also introducing the new Deco collection, which is an elevated collection offering a mix of everyday and day-to-night styles across leather and additional materials. The key item in this collection is a chain shoulder bag, which tested extremely well with the younger demographics. We are increasingly using customer testing in a holistic way to gauge the commercial viability and resonance of new products.

Core is so important to our business and to how our customers, both existing and new, consider and engage with our brand. Our teams have done a phenomenal job reinvigorating our core handbag offering and I couldn’t be more excited about the new assortment.

IR: Collaboration has been a hallmark of Kate Spade New York’s success, from partnerships with artists to co-branded collections. How do you approach collaboration, and what do you look for in potential partners?

LF: We are a lifestyle brand, and collaborations are an important part of our brand and business. We look at collaborations in three buckets: The first being art partnerships like with Alexander Girard, where we incorporate art into the products we design. We are known for colour and prints, and our heritage is rooted in art and design. These types of collaborations amplify this.

The second type of collaboration is strategic, focused on brand awareness and gaining a new customer, whether that be by customer segmentation like Gen Z, regionally like our Starbucks Apac collaboration, or globally. 

The third type of collaboration we focus on is meant to raise awareness and raise funds around our social impact mission, like our recently launched product collaboration with the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation.

IR: Sustainability has become increasingly important to consumers. How does Kate Spade New York integrate sustainability practices into its operations and product offerings? 

LF: We are on a journey toward a more circular future. Sustainability is a big part of that for us, and there’s so much more progress to be made. There are a few ways we’re approaching it: We’ve redesigned our entire packaging program. All our shoppers, boxes and garment bags are either recyclable or reusable.

We’ve also begun incorporating more recycled materials into our product. This spring we introduced an update to a classic Kate Spade print, Noel, and the range includes totes and bags made with 100 per cent recycled polyester. Last year, we re-launched the iconic Sam bag, a timeless style that has grown with the brand over the last three decades. For the first time, the classic nylon Sam Icon bag is now made with a 100 per cent recycled nylon shell on the outside – a material we have coined KSNYL – and a 100 per cent recycled polyester lining on the inside.

We’ve also transitioned the lining materials on all mainline handbags to 100 per cent recycled polyester for the interior, as well as the dust bags they come with.

In addition, we’ve ventured into the world of resale, through our partnership with ThredUp. This includes a take-back program allowing Kate Spade New York customers to trade in gently used clothing and accessories from any brand for Kate Spade shopping credit. It also includes a branded resale shop called “Pre-Loved”, which allows customers to purchase secondhand products directly through katespade.thredup.com

Since the program’s start, it has put more than 4000 items back into circulation.

IR: Kate Spade New York has a rich legacy and a unique brand identity. How do you ensure that the brand remains true to its roots while also evolving to meet the demands of the modern consumer?

LF: A heritage is one of the most priceless things a brand can have. And fresh off our 30th anniversary, we have it in spades. Synonymous with ‘joy’, our brand is unique yet universal and timeless. We’ve done a lot of work looking inwards over the past few years – at our heritage, DNA, and strengths, what we do that no one else can do. While our brand starts with our heritage, our strategy starts with the customer. We do a lot of work to understand our customer more deeply, and one thing we know for sure is that she comes to us for emotion. That emotional connection is part of our heritage.

While our core DNA remains, we’re continuously modernising and innovating our approach to it through the lens of our customer, for today and as we grow into the future.

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