What was Kate Spade's college major?

Kate Spade’s college major was journalism.

She first attended the University of Kansas and later transferred to Arizona State University, where she joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Spade graduated from ASU in 1985 with a journalism degree and initially expected to pursue television production rather than fashion design.

Her journalism background led directly toward her fashion career. After college, she moved to New York and worked at Mademoiselle magazine, eventually becoming a senior accessories editor. That role gave her an inside view of the handbag market and helped inspire her decision to create a line of stylish, practical handbags.

Spade worked with her future husband, Andy Spade, to launch the brand in 1993. The contrast between her academic training and her later design career often causes confusion: she was a fashion entrepreneur and designer, but journalism—not fashion design—was her college major.