KATE SPADE NEW YORK LAUNCHES FUND FOR WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH

By: Hillary LeBlanc

One of the most prolific internationally brands synonymous with joy is Kate Spade New York. The brand’s consistent use of colour, playful symbols and love-filled sentences exudes positivity at the ethos of their brand. Their slogan ‘Joy, Colors, Life’ ring true to their branding creating fanciful fashion vibes. In a world often working against women, Kate Spade New York has gone beyond cheerful branding to build pillars of social impact for their community. The brand has recently announced the Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health to bring more investment to this critical area.

Image Source: Kate Spade website

The organization Agenda Alliance shares that one in five women experience common mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. 53% of women who have mental health issues have previously been abused. 29% of women in poverty are more likely to have mental health conditions. Furthermore the Agenda Alliance shares that 75% of women develop their mental health conditions before the age of 24. 

Kate Spade New York, has been supporting mental health initiatives for some time. In 2018 Founder Kate Spade shockingly took her own life. Since then the brand has continued to build her legacy and has worked towards creating more awareness of mental health support for women. They support women and girls’ mental health through an organization called the Mama Glow Foundation, which aims towards transforming the landscape of reproductive health in the U.S. by educating and empowering the community. They also work with Moms First, a global movement that helps enable moms to thrive in the workplace.

Back in 2018 the National Council for Mental Wellbeing began to train Kate Spade New York employees in mental health first aid. The training helps individuals learn how to start a conversation about mental health and substance use problems and provides strategies of how to reach out to colleagues in need.

The Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health which was announced recently is due to an acknowledgment that the greatest barrier for women and girls accessing mental health resources is funding. The Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health powered and advised by Kate Spade New York is a donor-advised fund at Panorama Global, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Panorama Global builds platforms for collaboration within and across issues and sectors to maximize collective impact on pressing global challenges. These partnerships include fiscal sponsorship, custom solutions, funds and collaboration. They also partner with experts, advocates, and other leaders to maximize social impact in civil society, philanthropy, international coordination, national governments, research institutes, and the private sector.The fund partners will be announced in March 2025.

The launch of the campaign was announced with their 2024 Fall Campaign including a short film featuring actresses Nicola Coughlan, Taraji P. Henson and Marsai Martin. The video will premiere during NYFW at Kate Spade’s third annual Global Summit on Women’s Mental Health. Kate Spade has invested more than $31M in women’s mental health initiatives globally, making it one of the world’s largest corporate funders.

In all of this work, the Kate Spade New York website maintains that joy should be felt by everyone globally. While their website is geared towards shopping, the social impact tab also has resources available for mental health support, information on their partners as well as actionable items anyone on the website can start to implement. There is an electronic Guidebook available guide that can help anyone become more familiar with mental health, how it connects to wellbeing and what resources are out there to offer support. This resource is particular focused on the needs of women and individuals from BIPOC and LBGTQ+ communities, women in the workplace, caregivers, and young women and girls.

Image Source: Kate Spade Guidebook

Kate Spade New York has turned the devastating loss of their founder into life-transforming work while maintaining branding and foundation their company was built on: joy. 

Cover Image: Kate Spade website