Current Elliot Girls For Kate Spade

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This past April, Kate Spade partnered with New York vintage bike shop Adeline Adeline to create a one-of-a-kind bicycle but really, that's been their only collaboration as of late - or ever really. In a time when the designer collaboration is at its peak of popularity among big name brands, it's surprising that Kate Spade's taken so long to jump on the bandwagon. Now though, creative director and president of Kate Spade Deborah Lloyd's decided to team up with Current/Elliot denim designers and stylists Emily Current and Meritt Elliot to create the "Westward" capsule collection. The line includes six bags all scheduled to release in August, and priced between $245 to $1,295.

This match up is surprising for a couple of reasons. The first being that, as we said before, it's odd that a label that's been so savvy in the fashion business over a very long period of time would just now choose to take on a partnership with an outside design team. The second, is that they picked the Current/Elliott girls to do it.

While there's no doubt that Emily and Meritt have both the business and design skill set to pull this capsule collection off, and do it very well, their laid-back California cool look doesn't exactly mesh with the prim, proper and preppy aesthetic that Kate Spade's spent nearly twenty years perfecting. From the first look at one of the bags though, it seems like they're all on the same page - while the bags have a solid, tailored structure, they are also made using more rugged and worn leathers as well as antique hardware. It's definitely a step out of the box for Kate Spade, but one designer/stylist handbag collaboration that we're excited to see all the it-girls carrying come fall.