Rachel Brosnahan is now the face of her late aunt Kate Spade’s handbag line
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan has announced her next role, and it’s one that pays homage to her late aunt Kate Spade. Since Spade’s tragic suicide in June 2018, her surviving family members—including Brosnahan—have been admirably keeping her spirit and her life’s work alive. On Wednesday, January 30th, Brosnahan announced on Today that she is the face of the latest Frances Valentine handbag line, a luxury collection launched by Spade in 2016 and named after her daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade.
Brosnahan has a genuine love for her late-aunt’s work (she carried a Frances Valentine bag to a New York Knicks game in December 2018) and said that when she was approached by Spade’s longtime friend Elyce Arons to front the campaign, she immediately said yes. “It just seemed like the most natural thing,” Brosnahan revealed.
"I think when you lose someone you love very, very much, you spend a lot of time trying to think about how to keep their spirit alive, how they can live on for you, and that's through memories, but also, in Katy's case, there is so much of her, and this was an opportunity for us to celebrate her life and her legacy and how much she meant not only to us, but to so many other people and the impact that she's had on the fashion industry," Brosnahan said. "It was a really special experience, and the collection is just beautiful."
Brosnahan also added that the handbag line is reminiscent of her grandmother’s personal handbag collection.
"I know Kate had always talked about being inspired by my grandmother June, her mother, ripping things straight out of her closet, and I feel like that spirit still lives on as well. So, it's really lovely to see those special pieces of our family reflected through this collection and the ones before," she added.
You can see more of Brosnahan’s campaign at FrancesValentine.com.
