Ok, not entirely true, but I have been loving Kate Spade's collections and store displays these last few seasons, with her deliciously bold uses of color and pattern. But, it wasn't always this way; over the years I've had a bit of a rocky relationship with Kate Spade's wares. It began in my college dorm, when I was surrounded by all kinds of clique-y sorority girls. I did not join a sorority, but I had the misfortune of living among approximately 225 million sorority girls and fraternity boys and I found many of them....um...difficult, at least in such a large herd. (Sorry if you were in one and you are a nice person. I know you exist. In fact, if you were in a sorority/fraternity and you are reading this, you are probably my friend and you know I'm not talking about you.) At my school, during my freshman year, all the sorority girls wanted to look the same at all times, and not just because of some rush-related shenanigans, just BECAUSE. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky). Anyway, Friday and Saturday nights looked like this: tight black pants with slight flare, tight black tank top or shiny t-shirt or black lace top, perhaps a skinny belt, some very chunky, unflattering leather shoes and lots of dark lipstick.
I kid you not when I tell you this was my reality for a year:
You should seriously feel sorry for me
But, the most IMPORTANT accessory (aside from some dopey mouth-breathing frat boy) was the ubiquitous Kate Spade nylon tote:
Or some such version of this style
I did so much complaining about how these little brats did everything the same and all had the same pricey handbags, that my mom interpreted all my snarky-ness as a cry for help and, armed with one of her closest (and coolest) friends, generously went out and bought me one of those bags for my 19th birthday. After making fun for so long, I was mortified to actually BE one of those girls, so I pretty much never used the bag. Ingrate!
Fast forward to job interview time and what bag holds all my resumes and newspaper clips, hair doo-hickies and touch-up makeup, keys complete with college lanyard, gum and water? None other than that "embarrassing" Kate Spade tote, which quickly became my favorite and most professional looking bag for the next several years. Of course, I always wore it with the label facing in. I'm no show-off, after all. I actually still have the bag today, although it is looking very tired, but, that's what twelve years of use will do to a bag! I got my mom's nickel's worth out of it.
Wow, have I gone off track! The point of all this was actually to note crossover in fashion and interiors, among other design disciplines. Ms. Spade clearly has outstanding taste when it comes to fashion (shoes, bags, jewelry) but her home is also impeccable, although that shouldn't come as a surprise. A recent perusal of her website gleaned this fun new handbag, available in orange and black:
Summer Bon Shopper $175
The fabric on the bag reminded me of Ms. Spade's guest bathroom, where the same pattern appears as wallpaper in a different colorway:
The Zebras pattern is by Scalamandre and is available as wallpaper in several colorways, the original offering being Masai Red:
A little digging turned up the fact that the pattern has been a favorite of Ms. Spade's for some time now, and she's used it in her stores and as a source of inspiration for such things as cocktail napkins and stationary:
New York restauranteur Gino Circiello originally commissioned Franco Scalamandre to design a wallpaper featuring zebras being pursued by arrows for his restaurant's walls:
Gino, a New York institution, photo courtesty NY Times
Miles Redd used the wallpaper in a bathroom that was recently featured in Elle Decor:
The wallpaper appeared in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums:
Via Habitually Chic
Designer Lindsey Coral Harper used the wallpaper in her own bathroom:
via Habitually Chic
I'm thrilled to see the other colors being used more often, too:
A bathroom for a Habitually Chic reader:
Another bathroom, this one by Massucco Warner Miller
Now, I'd like to see some other rooms using this wallpaper! Anyone?
All this is to say that Ms. Spade was a trendsetter many moons ago, heavily influencing the sorority set of yesteryear, not to mention countless mere mortals, and she continues to push design forward with her respect of the past and eager consumption of what the future of design holds in all facets of the design world.
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