Kate Spade New York will launch a new label for spring called Broome Street. The line, which will be shown Friday, offers casual, essential pieces that can be mixed with the Kate Spade New York collection and the higher-priced Madison Avenue label.
Named in recognition of the brand’s first New York store in SoHo, the Broome Street label is a more casual take on the Kate Spade New York design aesthetic and incorporates some of the insights gleaned from Kate Spade Saturday, which the company closed in the first half of this year. Saturday had 16 company-owned and three partnered locations, as well as an e-commerce business.
Kate Spade Saturday, which launched for spring 2013 as an e-commerce pure play before opening stores, was priced about 50 percent below the original Kate Spade New York label. It featured dresses, jackets, denim, T-shirts, sweaters and swimwear, as well as accessories. The Broome Street line is more in keeping with the Kate Spade New York price range and will be housed in Kate Spade stores, select retailers and katespade.com.
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“This [Broome Street] line is a more casual expression of everything we do, and is an entry into the brand,” said Deborah Lloyd, president and chief creative officer of Kate Spade New York. She said the line has versatile pieces that work with its other offerings. There are about 50 pieces in the launch, concentrated in ready-to-wear, with a couple of totes.
The Broome Street label, which is designed to be casual with a weekend sensibility, will include woven shirts, cotton Ts, denim, casual cotton dresses and skirts, chunky sweaters and the brand’s idiom Ts and totes. The color palette is neutral to work back with everything else, said Lloyd. The first assortment also features outerwear including a classic khaki trench, denim jacket and leather motorcycle jacket. “You can put the motorcycle jacket with any of the Kate Spade dresses, which cuts the sweetness,” said Lloyd. Retail prices will range from $65 to $898.
While the Saturday collection was closed after much fanfare, Lloyd feels this is a better fit for the brand. “This one is designed to effortlessly sit and work with the Kate Spade New York line. It will be shown in our own stores and online. It will fit seamlessly together with everything we do,” she said. She declined to give first year sales projections. “We’re starting with ready-to-wear and we will grow accordingly,” said Lloyd.
The Broome Street label will be available at retail in February. It is being distributed internationally to Kate Spade New York specialty stores, select retailers and katespade.com.