She started her career working at Mademoiselle magazine in 1986 and launched her eponymous line of handbags and accessories in 1993 with her husband Andy Spade, whom she married in 1994 before opening her first store in Soho in 1996. The brand grew to include clothing, bedding, stationary, eyewear, baby items, and more. Spade was honoured by the CFDA in 1996 as “America’s New Fashion Talent in Accessories,” and again in 1998 as “Best Accessory Designer.”