I interviewed Kate and Andy Spade prior to their appearance at the OPEN from American Express brand building session. The room was packed and my little Olympus mp3 recorder caught plenty of crowd noise.

Click to listen (about 2:30) or right click and Save As to download. The audio quality is poor, but I think you can sense their energy.

Here’s what I asked:And their answers summarized.
DTM: When you started out, did you have a plan or a vision for the brand
KS/AS: No, not really, we knew what we wanted to do but we had no idea where it would – lots of hard work and luck.

DTM: Now that the brand has become so strong, you have added some significant brand extension. How do you determine what to add?
KS/AS: We add things that feel good to us. The things we like, the things we want to design.

DTM: How would you describe the brand in one word
KS/AS: One word, that’s tough – AS – I think that playful chic describes Kate and that’s a good description of the brand.