Kate Spade goes to Bisbee
By Michelle Woo
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 31, 2006
Bisbee, an Old West town 90 miles southeast of Tucson, is known for its historic mining sites, quirky art shops and now high fashion?
The Cochise County community serves as the backdrop of a 12-page advertising campaign for Kate Spade accessories, featured in this month’s Vogue, Vanity Fair, Town & Country and T: The New York Times Style magazines. The narrative-style photos show two eccentrically clad city girls on a road trip to their childhood town of Bisbee, stopping in a mom ‘n’ pop bookstore, gem shop and vintage trailer camp. In the final scene, the models stand at the side of the desert highway in floppy beach hats and oversize sunglasses, hitchhiking back to Manhattan.
With the words “Kate Spade Bisbee” sprawled across the opening page, the whimsical ad spotlights a town many cotton fields away from the fashion capitals of the world, a town recognized more for its ’50s-style diners than its designer handbags. Yet a growing number of fashion companies are hauling their production vans to southern Arizona, unloading photographers, crews and cash.
Companies often hire local photo assistants, make-up artists and stylists. Rancho de la Osa Guest Ranch in Sasabe, with its Spanish architecture and desert wildlife, raked in about $50,000 through location fees, food and accommodations during a recent weeklong Chico’s catalog shoot.
Shelli Hall, director of the Tucson Film Office, said companies are drawn to the Sonoran Desert with its natural landscapes, historic architecture, lower production costs and year-round sun.
“Other looks have been overused,” Hall said. “How many white sand beaches can you do? Tucson offers a distinctive look that you just can’t get anywhere else.”
For designer Kate Spade her husband Andy Spade, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer, the Arizona landscape struck a personal chord. The couple met while working together at a men’s clothing store near their alma mater, Arizona State University. Andy spent time as a child in Casa Grande.
“In a small town, it’s easier to get permits,” Andy said, laughing, when asked why he chose Bisbee. “It was like coming back to our hometown.”
The New York-based label contacted Michael McGinn, a freelance producer and location scout based in Scottsdale, who has worked with companies such as Target, Diesel and Nordstrom on selecting Arizona backdrops. McGinn said the unique character of Bisbee fit perfectly with Andy’s vision. Production took place last November.
While the entire state is recognized for its scenic destinations and landmarks, with photo-worthy locales such as Sedona, Lake Powell and Grand Canyon, McGinn said several areas south of the Valley are particularly sought after.
“Phoenix is such a metropolis with so many subdivisions that you don’t get those grandiose isolated locations that you get in southern Arizona,” McGinn said. “Those places are pristine, untouched, unspoiled.”
The Kate Spade print ads were combined with a short film produced in Bisbee, which was projected onto various buildings in New York City during Fashion Week last month. Featured in the ads are styles from the designer’s Beach Collection, including wicker, optic-print and woven totes, along with ’60s-inspired sunglasses and fringe-accented thong sandals. The handbags range from $125 to $925.
Joan Werner, owner of Atalanta’s Music & Books in Bisbee, which was featured in a two-page spread in the Kate Spade ads, said the crew gave her $100 for using her location, but the attention the shop has received is worth far more.
“I’ve gotten phone calls from people in other states saying, ‘I recognized your store,’ ” Werner said. “And everyone in town has been excited about it.”
Werner said she’s sold about 40 copies of the March issue of Vogue, whereas she sells maybe three in a typical month, noting that those in Bisbee “aren’t real fashionable people.”
And even if Bisbee doesn’t become the next Paris or Milan, city officials said the ads have brought interest to the area, which can translate into tourism dollars.
“It’s exposure to a different type of audience that wouldn’t have noticed Bisbee before,” said Donna Harris, Bisbee’s tourism development director. “You wouldn’t necessarily think Bisbee would be associated with fashion, but it puts the town in a new light, even if it’s not something we can all afford.”
I’m a Bisbee based photographer and a native of Bisbee. I’m not surprised that Bisbee was chosen for the Kate Spade campaign. The town is both unique and picturesque. Much of the look and feel of an Old West mining town remains. However, there is a funky artsiness that also pervades the town. At the time of this writing Bisbee, in collaboration with the DeGrazia Foundation, is readying itsef for three months of events that will center around an exhibit of original artwork by famed artist (and one time Bisbee resident) Ted DeGrazia. Bisbee has also, over the decades, provided a backdrop for several major motion pictures, and is a veritable paradise for both professional and amateur still photographers. Larry Elkins – Elkinsphotos