Interview

O’BRIEN: Whose idea was the Liquor Store?

SPADE: It was our idea. Mickey Drexler met with us and was asking about what to do with the men’s market, how to make men’s more relevant, and the thought was: Do you go and buy a billboard or do a lot of advertising, or just do a stand-alone men’s shop? And I knew the Liquor Store. I frequented the Liquor Store many years ago when I lived in Tribeca.

O’BRIEN: You actually bought liquor there?

SPADE: I actually drank liquor there. [both laugh] I would have bought the Liquor Store, but the woman who lives above it, her grandfather had it as a liquor store; then they kept the sign and it became a bar, which was called the Liquor Store. We were looking at that space ourselves to do something with. So our suggestion to Mickey and J.Crew was, let’s just make this a really great special men’s store that will actually show the world what you do with men’s. It’s usually combined with the women’s store, in the back or downstairs. So then we buy exclusive products for that store so you don’t have everything in it, edit it really, really well, keep the bar, keep the name. You know, let’s hire great people who understand what it’s about and make it a really special men’s store. At the time, they weren’t being mentioned in the same conversation as Thom Browne or Rogan or Rag & Bone or whoever. And now I think people have been able to see J.Crew men’s in a completely different way.

O’BRIEN: Yeah.

SPADE: I don’t like walking through the women’s department on Prince Street and going through to the men’s shop. I like the experience of an intimate space, and I like that it’s more seductive, the staff is more personal. We took the dressing room and made it into an exhibition space. I tried to make it into a place where guys want to spend time. We had the Strand do a little book shop inside it with the Strand brand on it. Most people know that Ralph Lauren buys the Strand books, but he doesn’t put their name on it because everyone wants to think it’s their own idea, which it isn’t. And now we’re doing bags with the Strand and J.Crew. We did ties with them. So we’ve had these strategic alliances with people who we thought would show that they’re interested in things beyond making a pair of khaki pants.

O’BRIEN: Way beyond.

SPADE: So that was the idea behind the shop. We built it out, we designed it with their in-store team, and we worked together on creating this store that would really be a beacon for what their men’s stands for.

O’BRIEN: Where did you get the idea for the Black Watch raincoat?

SPADE: Uh . . . I think it was you. [O’Brien laughs] That was yours. I didn’t even do that one. I think someone else saw you on the street.

O’BRIEN: You’re as bad as Eric Goode, who stole my upholstery for the Maritime Hotel.

SPADE: I am? No. I haven’t originated anything. I’m always looking around to see if I can combine two other ideas and make them into something new. I didn’t do the clothing in the store. But they brought in brands like Alden, which they don’t carry in other stores . . .

O’BRIEN: Yeah.

SPADE: We helped give them a list of different things to do, but they did most of the clothing merchandising, and we just worked as consultants, as sort of creative directors on that project. And then we did a men’s catalog and some other products for them, but, you know, it’s the ties with the Strand and the Detail Preservation Society, and those kinds of things . . .

O’BRIEN: What is the Detail Preservation Society?

SPADE: So we founded a society titled the Detail Preservation Society, and we have a blog that you look to if you want to find who the best bicycle maker is, or . . .

O’BRIEN: Really? That’s great.

SPADE: Or whatever you’re looking for. Everybody loved it, because we would call friends who do really great things—like Vogel, the cobbler on Howard Street. We’re just really into it. So Mickey was a founder, I was a founder, and a few others.

O’BRIEN: Yeah, yeah.

SPADE: But that was the idea that we were working toward: “If you really care about details, demonstrate it,” and do it outside of your business. I know you do. I’ve heard the things you say to people: “Why’s that sweater pilling?”

O’BRIEN: Gina [Nanni, O’Brien’s wife] got a pill shaver that’s in the shape of a penguin. It’s really fantastic. She was shaving an expensive sweater with it last night.

SPADE: Katie has one of those, too. Hers isn’t a penguin; I think hers is a porcupine. [laughs] They’re similar, but one costs less because it doesn’t have the spikes.

O’BRIEN: When you were doing Kate Spade and Jack Spade, you had a little ad agency on the side? What was that called?

SPADE: I was doing that with Julia Leach, so I think it was called Spade & Leach, or Leach & Spade . . .