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In a PEOPLE exclusive published June 3, 2025, Elyce Arons shared memories of her 37-year friendship with Kate Spade in an excerpt from her memoir. The passage recounts their college meeting, the handbag business they built with Andy Spade and Pamela Bell, and the grief Arons says followed her friend’s death. It is a first-person account, not an independently reported biography.
What did Kate Spade’s best friend share about their friendship?
Arons’s memoir excerpt describes a close friendship that began in college and continued through years of creative and business partnership. She recalls that she and Spade saw one another less after Spade moved uptown, and that she sensed distance between them even as they still wanted to work together. These are Arons’s personal recollections; the excerpt does not establish what Spade was thinking or explain the circumstances of her death.
Arons describes Spade as “highly sensitive and [someone who] felt things more deeply than most.” She calls the loss “a permanent ache.” Both phrases appear in the PEOPLE feature as Arons’s reflections on her friend and on grief.
How Arons says their friendship and business began
In the excerpt, Arons says she met Katy Brosnahan—whom she later knew as Kate Spade—during dorm move-in at the University of Kansas in August 1981. The two later transferred to Arizona State University, where Katy met Andy Spade. Arons says that after college Katy worked at Mademoiselle, she worked for a French denim brand, and Andy worked in advertising.
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Arons recalls that the idea for a handbag line took shape after Katy struggled to find suitable bags for fashion shoots. By 1993, she says, she, Katy, Andy and Pamela Bell had gone into business together. The excerpt assigns design to Katy, marketing and business development to Arons, creative direction to Andy, and production to Bell.
The Kate Spade business milestones in the excerpt
Arons’s account describes the group choosing “Kate Spade” as the brand name and receiving a CFDA nomination for the handbags in 1995. She recounts selling a 56 percent stake to Neiman Marcus in 1999 while the founders continued managing the business, then expanding into stationery and eyewear and introducing a fragrance in 2002. The passage says the brand was sold in full in 2006. These historical details are presented here as the memoir excerpt recounts them, rather than as independently verified business history.
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Arons says she and Spade later started Frances Valentine in 2016. In a recollection of a 2006 trip to Cabo, Arons says she asked Spade what came next. Spade’s remembered reply was: “Whatever it is, we’ll do it together.” The exchange is Arons’s account of a private conversation, not a separately recorded statement.
What the memoir is—and what the excerpt can establish
The excerpt identifies the book as We Might Just Make It After All: My Best Friendship With Kate Spade by Elyce Arons. The feature states that the book was due on sale June 17, 2025, and credits the excerpt to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The article’s text also uses a shortened, reordered version of the title elsewhere; the explicit excerpt attribution gives the title used here.
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The memoir’s value for readers interested in Spade is its firsthand perspective from a friend and business collaborator. That perspective can illuminate how Arons remembers their relationship, but it should not be mistaken for corroboration of every detail or a comprehensive account of Spade’s life. The PEOPLE feature does not provide current book formats, inventory, pricing or retailer availability.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Remembering Kate Spade with care
Kate Spade died by suicide on June 5, 2018. Arons’s excerpt focuses on friendship, shared work and bereavement; it does not offer a basis for speculation about why Spade died. For people affected by suicide or struggling themselves in the United States, the PEOPLE feature lists 988 and texting “STRENGTH” to 741741. Check the official providers for current instructions and service availability.
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- MATERIALS:
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