Some E-Mails you delete without a second glance. And then there are E-Mails where you’re really glad you checked them twice because they changed your whole week – or maybe even your perspective. The E-mail about Elyce Arons coming to the University of Kansas went completely over my head. Only by pure coincidence – when I was sorting through my Mail – did I read this and was like: Woah what? This is huge! I have to go!
I grew up with a mum who has a love for handbags, so brands like Valentino, Kate Spade, Longchamp, and co. were household names for me. And while I grew up with the names and bags around me, I never actually thought about the geniuses behind it that created the fashion of tomorrow. So when I read this Mail I immediately signed up for the talk. When will I ever have the chance to meet such an influential person again?
a little history lesson on kate spade
For those who did not grow up in between fashion brands and handbags, here’s the quick tea on Kate Spade and the people who built the empire. In the early ’90s, Katherine “Kate” Brosnahan (later Spade) and Andy Spade, along with Elyce Arons and Pamela Bell, decided to give entrepreneurship a real go and launch their own fashion label. They took a wild turn: instead of the bougie neutral and beige tones dominating designer bags at the time, they went bright, cheerful and – here comes the big twist – affordable.
It exploded. Even Anna Wintour once said, back in the day you couldn’t walk a block in NYC without spotting a Kate Spade bag. The company began with handbags before branching into clothing and jewelry. In the mid-2000s, Katy and Elyce left the company and created, years later, a new brand called Frances Valentine, a label focused on colorful, yet timeless apparel clothing.
“Style is the sense of so many things beginning with the sense of who you are and having self-confidence”
~Kate Spade
Meeting one of the women behind the legacy
The first thing I thought when I entered the room and saw Elyce Arons sitting on the podium was: ‘Yes. This is what I imagine a successful woman would look like.’ She had gorgeous attire from her own collection and radiated confidence and a sense of collected calm. Over the course of the event, in which she talked about her book, it became increasingly clear that she was so much more than that. Kate Spade is not only a brand with a success story behind it, like any other brand. It is an example of endurance, hard work, and incredible friendship. Her journey actually started right where we are all in this very moment: at college. And more specifically, at KU, which makes going here even more special for me. She met her best friend by pure coincidence of last names that were alphabetically close to each other. She has not said so, but personally, I think she has found her platonic soulmate in Katy. They stayed throughout college together and reconnected after Katy’s year of traveling in New York.
If you are craving the same intimate connection Katy and Elyce have, check out my article Why Friendships in Your 20s Feel So Complicated .
what i learned from elyce arons
Her book walks through her journey like a modern-day fairy tale – but also gives a rare peek behind the curtain. You see how hard both of them worked to make ends meet, and just how much endurance it really took. She proves that it is possible to combine personal and professional life.
I have immense respect for women like her – building a career without prior connections, making a name for themselves, and balancing motherhood at the same time. Any man in her position would probably be arrogant about it. But not her. She was very open, friendly and genuinely kind – she took questions from an 8-year old in the audience very serious. She is living proof that success does not have to come with ego – that greatness can coexist with empathy and a great deal of love for your best friend.
I walked into that room expecting a designer to speak about their brand and empire. But instead I met a woman that build so much more than that. I walked out with the feeling that my dreams are not only valid, but possible.
Still giddy with excitement, fingers still a little sweaty from asking her for a photo, I sent the picture to my mum – and I don’t think I stopped smiling for the rest of the day.