Kate Spade Names Jonathan Saunders Executive Creative Director

Kate Spade New York has appointed designer Jonathan Saunders as executive creative director, the Tapestry, Inc.-owned brand announced Tuesday, marking its return to a single creative leader after nearly five years without one.

Saunders, who most recently served as chief creative director at H&M-owned & Other Stories, will join Kate Spade on Aug. 26. Reporting to brand president and chief executive Eva Erdmann, he will oversee product design and the brand’s visual identity. Saunders has previously held design roles at Diane von Furstenberg, Calvin Klein, Tiffany & Co., Pucci and Alexander McQueen.

The appointment comes as Kate Spade continues a years-long effort to revive growth following its 2017 acquisition by Tapestry, then known as Coach Inc. While sister brand Coach has seen a dramatic turnaround with the help of creative director Stuart Vevers, Kate Spade has struggled to regain momentum and define a clear creative direction.

In its fiscal 2025, Kate Spade generated sales of $1.2 billion, down from $1.3 billion the previous year and $1.4 billion a decade ago, in 2016. Coach, meanwhile, saw an uptick of 13 percent in the last year to $5.6 billion — compared to $4.5 billion a decade ago.

Kate Spade’s previous creative director Nicola Glass departed the brand in April 2021 after roughly three years in the role. Rather than appointing a direct successor, the label split creative responsibilities in 2022, naming Jennifer Lyu head of design for leathergoods and accessories, and Tom Mora head of design for ready-to-wear, footwear, jewellery and everything else. Saunders’ appointment reunifies those functions under a single executive creative director. According to their LinkedIn profiles, both Lyu and Mora both left Kate Spade in 2024.

In a statement, Erdmann said Saunders’ vision would honour the brand’s heritage while introducing “an uplifting vision of luxury to a new generation of consumers.”

With Saunders in the top creative role, Tapestry is hoping to sharpen its creative identity, borrowing from a playbook that has helped transform Coach into one of the sector’s standout success stories.