Kate Spade appeared, as if out of nowhere, in the 1990s. As soon as she showed her handbags to the world, she became an “it” girl of fashion. Kate Spade soon became one of the biggest names in style. Her designs have stood out over the decades but her designer prices can be a little steep. There are many brands similar to Kate Spade that offer similar looks and styles but with some differences that you may end up liking.
Who Is Kate Spade?
Though she took the world by surprise with her luxury designer bags, Kate Spade was no newcomer to fashion when she launched her first line of handbags in 1993. She had worked as a senior fashion editor for Mademoiselle magazine prior to sharing her style with the world.
Within a few years of launching her first line of handbags, she was a huge player on the fashion scene. Her bags immediately struck a chord and became a coveted high fashion accessory.
Her brand continues to thrive and to provide designer fashion of all kinds. The Kate Spade label has expanded from handbags and wallets to include all items of clothing, jewelry, shoes, accessories of all kinds and even home goods. Kate Spade started out small in New York with a single line of handbags. Today, it’s a global brand that is loved and worn around the world.
The Kate Spade Look
The Kate Spade brand has an overall classic look that features a lot of vivid colors and traditional fashion patterns. Plaids, animal prints, tweed and other iconic patterns are seen often in Kate Spade designs.
Kate Spade clothing is often styled in many shades of pink, green, red, blue and other bright jewel tones. Stripes, circles and floral patterns are seen often in Kate Spade fashions. Retro silhouettes give Kate Spade designs a timeless look. These fashions are meant to be worn for years, no matter what fashion trends might come and go.
Kate Spade is still best known for bags and the brand has an enormous collection of them to choose from. Bags from this brand are made in structured designs with distinctive silhouettes in patterns and bold colors, like Kate Spade clothing. Some Kate Spade bags feature the spade pattern that is associated with the brand, which looks like two spades placed end-to-end in a repeating design.
The Kate Spade brand name is usually included in gold lettering on Kate Spade bags. Some Kate Spade designs are highly whimsical, with styles made to look like slices of pizza, hearts and other interesting shapes. The brand makes all types of bags in all sizes, shapes and colors.
Many traditional fashion pieces are included in the Kate Spade catalog. Peasant blouses, shift dresses, wide-leg pants and tailored suits are all part of the extensive product line.
The accessories available here include every type of bag, from make-up bags to bag accessories, along with scarves, fragrances and hair accessories. The Kate Spade brand also carries shoes in all styles, from sneakers to high heels.
Finding Brands Similar to Kate Spade
Kate Spade is a famous designer label with a distinct look and classic design style. However, there are many designer brands and other brands similar to Kate Spade that do share some similar design elements. Some of the specific things you like about Kate Spade are present in other brands. Play around with different designer and non-designer styles to create lots of eye-catching, head-turning looks.
Calvin Klein (Less Expensive)
Calvin Klein is another famous name in fashion, known for making everything from blue jeans to red carpet gowns for the world’s top actresses. CK has made everything there is to wear, including perfume and accessories of every kind. Calvin Klein has been a designer label for several decades and the designer himself, Calvin Klein, is a highly recognizable person in the fashion world.
Like Kate Spade, the Calvin Klein brand creates all things fashion, even shoes. Calvin Klein even makes underwear and yes it is branded, as referenced by a joke in the first “Back to the Future” movie. Many Calvin Klein items are branded, which is something some people like about this designer label.
The fashion at Calin Klein is less expensive, on average, than similar items from Kate Spade. You will typically pay hundreds less for equivalent items from Calvin Klein than what you would spend at Kate Spade because though it is a designer label, the Calvin Klein brand strives to create more affordable fashion. Calvin Klein can be worn by anyone and everyone, not just Hollywood elite or the rich and famous.
While the Kate Spade brand features a lot of bright colors and classic patterns, the styles at Calvin Klein feature more neutral tones of black, white, cream, gray and muted hues of red, green and other color shades.
Solid color designs are the rule under the CK brand, and Calvin Klein is known for keeping product lines updated with the latest trends, materials and innovations that are driving the current style moment. Rather than classic silhouettes and designs, Calvin Klein has all the latest looks in fashion and the streetwear styles that everyone is currently wearing.
If you want to wear what’s trendy and pay less than the prices at Kate Spade, take a look at what Calvin Klein has to offer.
Cleobella (Less Expensive)
Like Kate Spade, Cleobella has a lot of styles that feature bright colors and patterns. Classic silhouettes rule the product lines here and historic fashion elements are often incorporated into current designs.
Cleobella offers a large selection of fashion of all types. Dresses, jackets, loungewear, tops and bottoms are all here, along with handbags, jewelry and accessories that will complete your looks. Cleobella has these qualities in common with Kate Spade and the brand’s wide range of various fashions. You can get everything you need to create a complete outfit at Cleobella, as you can at Kate Spade.
Cleobella stands apart from others in the fashion world because these items are all billed as “ethically handmade.” Since being founded in 2006, the brand has worked with artisans around the world to have clothing hand-made. This is part of the company’s strong commitment toward ethical responsibility. Cleobella clothing is also made from organic cotton.
These features appeal to buyers who want to purchase more sustainable, ethical fashion. The fashion industry has come under attack a number of times for not always following ethical and sustainable practices. For many years, whether or not the wearing of real fur was acceptable was a hot-button fashion topic.
Because of the materials used and because these items are handmade, Cleobella clothing carries a designer label-like pricetag. On average, Cleobella items are somewhat less expensive than similar pieces of fashion from Kate Spade but the price tag is right up there with other design labels that are somewhat more affordable than Kate Spade.
Coach (More Expensive)
Coach is one of the most well-known designer brands in the world. Like Kate Spade, Coach is famous for designer handbags, wallets and purses. Where Kate Spade focuses on patterns and color, Coach is more about texture. Bags here are made in all different materials to create many looks. Leather, fabrics, faux fur and all sorts of different materials are used in Coach bag designs.
Coach bags also differ stylistically from Kate Spade designs. Where Kate Spade designs are very structured and made with sharp, clean lines, Coach bags are often slightly more slouchy to create a more casual, everyday sort of style.
Bags from Coach sometimes feature patterns made up of the brand’s famous C logo but more often than not, these bags are made in solid colors, unlike the colorful patterns found in so many Kate Spade designs. The Coach brand was founded in New York in 1941 and started to become known on the style scene in the 1960s.
Coach also makes tops, bottoms, dresses and jackets, along with an entire line of menswear. The Coach design style features a lot of soft creams, shades of yellow, black and neutral color tones. Like the bags, Coach clothing has a distinctly casual flair to it and a looser, more free-flowing overall look than the sharp, clean lines of Kate Spade fashion.
For those who like designer labels, however, few are as recognizable as Coach. Like Kate Spade, this is an extremely trendy and very well-known label. This brand is more expensive, on average, than similar items at Kate Spade. Coach is a highly recognizable and super popular brand that is associated with extremely high quality and because of this, people are willing to pay the designer price for these items.
Dooney & Bourke (Less Expensive)
Like the Kate Spade brand, Dooney & Bourke has a huge line of bags. This brand creates only bags, accessories and shoes, no clothing. However, fans of beautiful bags will find no shortage of them in the D&B catalog. In other words, you won’t have any trouble finding stuff to shop for here.
Dooney & Burke makes bags in all sizes of all types. The look of this brand is very classic, with a product line that includes all the popular styles and standard silhouettes. This is a quality Dooney & Burke shares with Kate Spade and fans of one brand often also enjoy items from the other.
While Kate Spade items feature many different classic patterns and animal prints, Dooney & Bourke is associated strongly with one pattern in particular. Some D&B designs feature a rather distinctive plaid pattern made up of dark green and red diagonal lines intersected with small blue, gold and white lines. This design resembles a classic Scottish tartan pattern and this particular pattern is called the tartan Victoria.
However, there is no actual tartan Victoria as registered with the National Records of Scotland’s Tartan Register, which is absolutely a real thing that exists. All official tartans must be registered through the tartan register. However, the gorgeous plaid pattern used by Dooney & Burke is still a highly distinctive hallmark of the brand and a design element of D&B fashion that sets the brand apart from others.
Dooney & Burke is somewhat less expensive, on average, than Kate Spade.
Fossil (Less Expensive)
Fossil is a well-known fashion brand. However, Fossil doesn’t make clothing. This brand specializes in watches, handbags, wallets and jewelry. Fossil has made a famous name for itself in the accessories niche and like Kate Spade, has become well known for this particular part of the style world.
Unlike Kate Spade, which has many lively designs with a lot of color, Fossil focuses on leather handbags in traditional shades of black, brown and gray. The product line contains few colors because in these designs, the quality of the leather is allowed to shine. This gives Fossil its own distinctive look.
The bag designs at Fossil are often more classic than trendy, with traditional bag silhouettes, something the brand has in common with Kate Spade. Fossil also offers some additional branding details that set designs apart from other labels. First is the classic front clasp that is present in many Fossil bag designs. This is a simple U-shaped metal catch that folds up and down.
Fossil bags also have a key attached to them, usually on a special strap near the end of the purse handle. This key has become a symbol of the brand and you will find it on all genuine Fossil bags. Those who enjoy designer branding and classic style will find that Fossil is a great place to look. The prices here are less expensive than similar items you will find at Kate Spade.
Frances Valentine (Similar Pricing)
Frances Valentine, like Kate Spade, focuses exclusively on fashion for women. You can find all types of fashion and a vast selection of items to wear at Frances Valentine, a quality the brand shares with Kate Spade.
The sharp and elegant designs at Frances Valentine are similar to the classic silhouettes you can find at Kate Spade and like Kate Spade, the Frances Valentine brand makes use of color and patterns to create bold designs that are meant to catch the eye and stand out from the crowd.
Also like Kate Spade, Frances Valentine creates designs using retro silhouettes and styles, putting a fresh and modern look on these classic shapes. The label makes a huge selection of items, including clothing types that range from pajamas to coats and jackets. Frances Valentine also makes jewelry and home goods.
The products you can find here are similar to the selection you find at Kate Spade. The two brands have a similar look to them. Those who like Kate Spade fashion are likely to enjoy Frances Valentine as well.
The clean and classic silhouettes, use of patterns and colors and modern retro designs at Frances Valentine give this brand a look that is very similar to the Kate Spade label. However, Frances Valentine tends to stick to a different design color palette that features a lot of mustard yellow, light blue, tomato red, gray, sage green and sometimes shocking pink or pumpkin orange. This gives the fashions under this brand a distinct look. The vivid colors make Frances Valentine fashion stand out.
The pricing at France Valentine is similar to what you’ll find for comparable items at Kate Spade. The design style here is more casual overall, with many styles meant for everyday wear.
Shoppers who like Kate Spade but what to play with more casual looks in different color shades and designs will like what they find under the Frances Valentine label.
Ganni (Less Expensive)
Ganni puts a young, modern flair on fashion, offering casual, trendy clothing and accessories of all kinds. Ganni has a distinct style that makes use of striking silhouettes, embossed leather techniques and specific shades of color.
You will find a lot of tote, half moon and sleek cylinder silhouettes in the Ganni handbag product line. Ganni also makes a lot of drawstring top bags and baguette bags as well. Like Kate Spade, Ganni plays with patterns and colors. However, Ganni uses a lot of floral and natural patterns, as opposed to the classic patterns you find in the Kate Spade product line.
The casual designs also differ from the overall look of Kae Spade, but both brands offer a huge selection across a wide range of fashion items. Ganni items are somewhat less expensive than similar items you find at Kate Spade.
The Ganni look is very fun and trendy and this brand appeals to a lot of hot, trendy celebs and fashionistas. This is a great brand for those who want to look fresh and modern and wear all the latest looks in fashion.
Guess (Less Expensive)
Everyone is familiar with the Guess brand. This has been a popular designer label for decades, worn by the hottest stars and non-celebrities alike. Guess famously uses a question mark logo as part of its highly recognizable branding. This brand is also associated with everyday casual fashion that can be worn anywhere.
Like Kate Spade, Guess makes a vast range of fashion items that includes all different apparel, shoes, accessories and jewelry, along with a line of men’s clothing and a line of kids’ clothing.
Also like Kate Spade, Guess creates a huge of range of bags in classic silhouettes. Guess also uses a lot of animal patterns in its bags. However, Guess tends to stick to crocodile and snakeskin patterns, rather than the animal prints like cheetah and leopard you find with Kate Spade. The reptile skin patterns, which are often mixed with small pops of color and piping details, give Guess bags a recognizable look that stands out from other brands.
In addition to the famed question mark logo, Guess uses a lot of other elements that are linked to the brand itself. Chain purse straps and “G” logo medallions have become common features of Guess bags, along with buckle accents on purse straps.
The Guess bag color palette centers around basic black and white, along with a lot of Earth tones and some rich jewel tones, such as rust red and burnt orange. Guess clothing is typically more casual in design as well, with lots of Earth tones and abstract patterns. Guess is also known for jeans and offers a huge selection of blue jeans and denim items.
Guess is generally far less expensive than Kate Spade. Though Guess is a designer label, one of the goals of the brand is to provide affordable high fashion. This is why Guess has been worn by celebrities and non-celebrities of all kinds and why it is one of the most popular and recognizable brands in the world.
Marc Jacobs (Similar Pricing)
Marc Jacobs is a popular designer name known for high-end fashion. Marc Jacobs designs have drawn the attention of the world’s most elite celebrities. The brand specializes in bags, wallets, accessories and shoes, all items that Kate Spade also offers. Like Kate Spade, the Marc Jacobs brand also offers a huge range of clothing fashion items.
Marc Jacobs bags often have a slouchier, more casual shape than more structured Kate Space silhouettes and come in a range of standard colors. Shades of navy blue, bright red, cream, brown, black and soft pastels are seen often from this brand. The Marc Jacobs style is casual and elegant overall.
Clothing under the Marc Jacobs label bears a highly distinct look, too. Like the handbags, Marc Jacobs clothing has a loose, free-flowing look, with lots of wide-legged pants styles, hoodies and classic casual clothing silhouettes. Marc Jacobs clothing is often made in monogram designs that feature the Marc Jacobs logo in a large, repeated pattern.
Marc Jacobs clothing has similar pricing to comparable items from Kate Spade. Shoppers who like a more relaxed look, distinctive branding and a causal, hip and trendy high fashion look will love the designs they find with the Marc Jacobs brand. The Marc Jacobs style is a little more modern and trendy and a little more casual, overall, than the Kate Spade design look.
Michael Kors (Similar Pricing)
Michael Kors is a highly trendy, popular name in high fashion and particularly in handbags, something the Kate Spade brand also specializes in. Michael Kors offers a huge selection of handbags of different sizes and types, along with the wallets to go with them.
Michael Kors bags often have classic silhouettes but with a twist. The shapes of bags under this brand are quite distinct. Michael Kors also sets bags apart with specific details that are present in some designs. Small chain accents, distinctive “MK” logos and side tassels are seen in many Michael Kors designs. This gives the brand its own look that makes it recognizable even when compared against other designer labels.
Like Kate Spade, Michael Kors makes designs that feature a lot of animal prints. Michael Kors bags heavily favor a neutral color palette built around shades of brown, black and white. Rich Earth tones like sage green, burnt orange and deep yellow appear in some designs, along with soft pastel pinks and blues.
Michael Kors sells a huge range of clothing that includes just about everything you can wear, including swimwear. The brand also offers watches, jewelry, shoes and accessories of all kinds. Like the bags, Michael Kors clothes feature a lot of animal prints and neutral color patterns. The designs are trendy and sleek, with a distinct high-fashion flair thanks to asymmetrical designs and dramatic silhouettes.
Michael Kors uses a lot of different fabric textures to create distinct designs as well. This gives the clothes a very touchable and interesting look that gives the designs a lot of life and depth. The clothing here has a clear modern and trendy flair, which differs from the more classic look of Kate Spade designs.
The pricing between Michael Kors and Kate Spade is similar, so you can spend the same amount of money for like items across these brands. If you like fashion with a modern look and elegant design style with some dramatic flair thrown in, you will like what you find at Michael Kors.
Rebecca Minkoff (Less Expensive)
Bright colors, bold shapes and embellishments are a highlight of many Rebecca Minkoff designs. This designer label makes everything from clothing to shoes to accessories and fragrances but the huge bag selection available under this brand truly stands out.
Large jewel and bead accents, vivid colors and slightly unusual shapes make the bags here look different from other labels. The designs are like classic fashion with a twist. The shapes, the material and some elements of the bags might be very traditional in design but then, some modern twist on this makes the bag stand out and creates a look that is brand new.
This particular design style is present in Rebecca Minkoff clothing as well. Many designs are embellished with crystal accents and there is an emphasis on texture in many Rebecca Minkoff items. Leather, mesh, knits and silks appear frequently.
Bold colors and basic blacks fill up the product line, along with classic prints. The silhouettes here are highly stylized, with many sharp lines and distinct silhouettes, a design aesthetic that Rebecca Minkoff has in common with Kate Spade.
Rebecca Minkoff’s take on classic style is similar to the approach Kate Spade takes in modernizing classic design silhouettes. Both brands also offer a huge range of products that represent all corners of the fashion industry. If you can wear it, you can probably find it at Kate Spade and Rebecca Minkoff.
Fashion from Rebecca Minkoff is somewhat less expensive than similar items you can find at Kate Spade.
Ted Baker (Less Expensive)
Ted Baker makes a huge range of items, including women’s and men’s fashion along with home goods. All kinds of fashions, from sleepwear to suits to dresses to coats, are designed under the Ted Baker brand. This label also creates jewelry, fragrances, hats, belts and accessories of all kinds, including a huge selection of bags.
Ted Baker bags are often made in solid color designs where the material and texture of the bags is allowed to stand out. That’s because this line of bags includes unusual textures and materials, such as pebbled leathers and wicker.
Floral patterns and embellishments and soft colors, such as gentle pastels and basic black, create a distinct design style for Ted Baker bags. The brand makes bags of all sizes and styles in very structured designs with clean lines, a look that Ted Baker has in common with Kate Spade.
Clothing from Ted Baker has a similar design style, with a lot of clean, simple silhouettes and designs that play with texture and abstract patterns in soft color shades. The designs here are classic, much like the styles at Kate Spade, but with different fabrics and patterns making each design look fresh and modern.
Pricing at Ted Baker is much less expensive, on average, than similar items at Kate Spade. Ted Baker’s brand is “affordable luxury.” Even though this brand is rooted in the fashionable district of London where style is known to be extremely pricey, Ted Baker focuses on creating styles that everyone can wear. Those who like wearing high fashion and still want to be able to afford other stuff, like dinner, might find that Ted Baker is the perfect place to shop.
Tory Burch (More Expensive)
Tory Burch sells everything fashionable, from stuff for the home to stuff you can wear on your body. The brand is well-known for creating bags that stand out, something that Kate Spade’s reputation was built upon. Like Kate Spade, Tory Burch designs bags in classic silhouettes with clean lines in structured shapes.
Tory Burch bags often have distinct characteristics that make these styles stand out, such as distinct embossing that displays the brand’s distinct T logo, textured leather that features diamond shapes, chain straps and tassel details. The color palette is neutral, with many bags made in shades of black, white, gray, brown and dark greens, blues and yellows.
Clothing from Tory Burch makes innovative and interesting use of color blocking, often pairing two or more seemingly clashing colors together in unique ways to create highly distinct designs. Kate Spade also plays around with colors and patterns to create head-turning looks.
Tory Burch fashions have a looser, more comfortable design style than Kate Spade’s more structured fashion but both brands create high fashion semi-formal wear that has a touch of glamour to it thanks to bold patterns, colors and silhouettes.
Tory Burch fashion is more expensive, on average, than similar items from Kate Spade. You will pay a little more when shopping at Tory Burch.
Wearing Kate Spade and Similar Brands
Try wearing brands that are similar to the Kate Spade style to expand your designer look. There are many other designers and brands that will give you that same colorful, classic look you can find in Kate Spade designs. Play around with these other labels and fine-tune your designer look.
FAQs
The Kate Spade look is pretty iconic but recognizing the brand and brands similar to Kate Spade is just the beginning. There’s a lot to know about wearing high fashion and clothing that’s made to look high fashion, not to mention some lingering questions about Kate Spade, the designer and the designer brand. We found the most frequently asked questions about Kate Spade and we’ve got the answers, so you know as much as a true fashionista when it comes to this brand and similar brands like Kate Spade.
Are Kate Spade and David Spade related?
Though it hasn’t got anything to do with the fashion brand, the designer Kate Spade and comedian David Spade are related by married. Kate married Andy Spade, who is the brother of David Spade.
The Spade name is not only behind the Kate Spade brand itself, it also inspired a pattern used in Kate Spade designs of all kinds that uses a playing card style spade shape.
Are Kate Spade purses leather?
When a handbag has a designer price tag and a designer name, you might just assume it’s made out of high-quality leather. However, not every Kate Spade bag is made with leather.
Some styles are made with canvas, nylon, wicker and other materials. Tweed, wool, linen and other fabrics are used as well. This is because the Kate Spade brand has put more emphasis on using sustainable materials in more recent years and has greatly expanded the overall look of the brand as a result.
Does Kate Spade have a lifetime warranty?
Most Kate Spade designs, including shoes and handbags, have a one-year warranty that covers all manufacturer defects. Watches have a two-year warranty and eyewear has no warranty.
Because it is a high fashion luxury brand, Kate Spade is designed to be incredibly long-lasting and durable, so you can continue to wear or carry your Kate Spade fashion for many years.
Where are Kate Spade bags made?
Kate Spade began as a New York design house but today, the brand has expanded exponentially. Most leather and materials used to make Kate Spade fashion is sourced from the U.S., Europe and Asia and finished in Asia.
Does Kate Spade make vegan leather bags?
Kate Spade has not included any vegan leather in its handbags as of the 2022 product line but this could change if vegan leather products become more popular and more commonly used in high fashion.
Why is Kate Spade so expensive?
Kate Spade is a designer brand that is associated with high fashion and luxury. Items from this brand are made to be incredibly durable. You will spend more for a designer brand like this, but designer fashion will often last longer than a bag that is more affordably made.
Luxury brands command a higher price because much more time and attention is put into designing and making these items. A lot of time and care goes into creating the design and a lot of time is used to make the design a reality, which drives up the price on luxury fashion like Kate Spade.
Designer brands like Kate Spade also use high-quality materials to make their products, so you get a very high caliber of fashion. You always pay a little more for the designer label and famous name, which is simply a hard truth of high fashion. That designer name costs a little more because a little more time and effort went into the design. The extra time and attention costs a little more. This is why Kate Spade comes at such a high price.
Sources:
Biography – Kate Spade
Delgoor – Does Kate Spade Use Real Leather?
More Fashion Ensembles
