Kelsey Crane also had tickets in Atlanta and coordinated her outfit around McMahan. “One of Heather’s favorite stores is Old Navy,” Crane explains. “She often talks about how she’s an Old Navy girl and how they should sponsor her because they’re the perfect fit for her ‘thick neck and thin ankles,’ so me and my friends wore Old Navy graphic tees.” She adds that they “popped some White Claw” before the show, in McMahan’s honor.
So, yes, McMahan’s brand is strong. So strong, in fact, that Old Navy recently came calling with an invitation to visit their headquarters in the Bay Area. “They told me they got such crazy messages from my followers,” McMahan says. “Like, ‘She’s your number one fan, why isn’t she on every billboard?’ They felt as if they had to bring me in, or someone was going to burn the place down. I feel like Ariana Grande.”
It’s a far distance from where McMahan was a few years ago. After the loss of her father to cancer in December 2015, she left Los Angeles and her fledgling acting career—think credits in made-for-TV movies like Bride to Maybe and Merry Ex-Mas—behind to move in with her mother, Robin, in Atlanta. It was supposed to be a temporary living arrangement to help her mom and sister, Ashley, adjust and grieve, but it lasted until this past summer when McMahan moved to New York with her fiancé, Jeff Daniels. (No, not that Jeff Daniels—hers is an engineer.)
“When I moved home, I was in 100% survival mode,” McMahan tells me. “I had a wonderful relationship with my dad. He was the love of my life.”
She says she went through “a deep depression” for about a year following his death—something that intensified her career frustrations. “I’d spent the last nine years going on auditions for roles I wasn’t right for, driving across L.A. traffic from Hollywood to Santa Monica at 5 p.m. on a Friday for a role you know they already gave to someone else,” she explains. “Your soul leaves your body at one point.”
Thinking she was done with comedy and acting forever, McMahan applied for a flight attendant position with Delta Airlines. But they said…no. So she took the rejection as a sign: Stick with what you’re good at. “I’m a liability and probably would have been sent to HR on the first day anyway,” she jokes. Now? They’re a sponsor.
Overnight, Carolines had national attention. Hirsch started booking more then-unknown talent, like Seinfeld, Sandra Bernhard, and Billy Crystal. She found other ways to bring people in, too, convincing editors at The Daily News and The New York Post to come write about this burgeoning comedy scene. Business was booming; within a few years, the club had outgrown its Chelsea space. They moved to a new venue in the South Street Seaport in 1987. But in 1992, after outgrowing even that space, Carolines moved into its current Times Square location.
Hirsch describes her role at the time as…”everything.”
“I’d be on the phone with the agencies, I’d be paying the bills, writing checks…I did everything,” she says. “It was the best way to learn. We didn’t even have Google then. [People say,] ‘Oh my God, how did you live without Google?’ You just had to figure it out.”
Hirsch with Jerry Seinfeld.Courtesy of Caroline Hirsch
When I ask Hirsch if there was anyone to guide her or offer advice, she gives an adamant no. “I had no mentor. I’ll tell you right now, there was never a mentor,” she says. “Never, OK? Never. No one helped. No one really helped. I had to figure it out on my own.”
She’s not so much resentful as proud. And forget not having a mentor to show her the ropes—Hirsch also was without female peers. She tells me she could count on one hand the women she worked with during that time, though she didn’t realize how unique she was in the moment. “We were just onto something so new,” she explains. “I never went through this industry thinking, ‘Oh, poor me—the woman.’ I just took it for granted that I could do whatever the guys did. And I’d do it better.”
Now, almost four decades later, Hirsch has tracked the ebbs and flows in the business, surviving each new trend and turn of tide. When Comedy Central launched in 1991, for example, it transformed the business. “[Channels like Comedy Central and Ha!] were just getting developed when they saw what was really happening at Carolines, because we had so many people come in,” Hirsch says. “They used to always be there looking at the talent.”
And in 2019, Carolines on Broadway continues to be an incubator for new talent, booking with a sixth sense for what will resonate outside the traditional stand-up act—YouTube stars, podcast hosts, influencers like Jonathan Van Ness and the like. Even in that diverse roster, Hirsch insists that the best talent has one thing in common.
Decorating for the holidays is serious business for many—but if you’re CEO of Crown Media Networks (a.k.a. the Hallmark Channel) the bar is on a different level. “Oh, I’m a Christmas nut,” William J. Abbott, Crown Media’s CEO and president, tells Glamour.com. “We actually built [an addition] in our house so we could accommodate a 12-foot tree in the middle of our den, so, yeah, we just love the holidays.” The same goes for Michelle Vicary, the network’s executive VP of programming and publicity. “Christmas decorations go up the day after Halloween,” she jokes. “I’m a little [like the] Griswolds.”
Tinsel and trees aside, Abbott, Vicary, and the entire team at Crown Media actually live the business they’re selling. And they’re selling it well. Vicary says nearly 85 million people lay eyes on the network between Halloween and New Years. If that sounds more like a Christmas miracle than reality, you haven’t been paying attention to the Hallmark Channel—or its sister property, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries—the last few years. When the network says it is “cable’s biggest success story,” it’s true.
This year Hallmark is in the midst of airing 37 original holiday movies for its Countdown to Christmas programming (and planning the 2019 holiday slate). And watching these movies is no longer a guilty pleasure—it’s appointment television. From unofficial drinking games to a user-friendly app, it’s become cool to stay home and watch two people in sweaters fall in love in a town named like a Bath & Body Works lotion.
PHOTO: Hallmark
‘Christmas at Pemberley Manor,’ starring Jessica Lowndes and Michael Rady.
Abbott says Netflix is partially to thank for changing viewer habits, particularly among millennials. “They have a formula that certainly has worked for them in terms of driving people toward watching on their smart TVs,” he says. “Ultimately the more people that consume entertainment, the better off we all are.”
But Netflix is only a small part of Hallmark’s success. Vicary cites the constant, and often depressing, 24/7 news cycle as another factor. “I think people can only take so much,” she says. “We purposely look to be an escape. We try not to be issues-oriented in terms of creating polarizing conversations because there are places to get that. We are a place that is a haven from that. We’re just a different conversation.”
Abbott agrees. “I think it’s not only the political landscape, but the entertainment landscape to a degree too. There are just very few options that are not shocking, looking to shock, or looking to be over-the-top in terms of violence or salacious for salacious sake. I think people tire of that.” Abbott admits that’s not the only reason people tune into the channel, it is a big one—and something that Hallmark has included in its strategy. “It’s tapping into emotion in a positive way and making you feel a little better about relationships and how people interact,” he explains. “The Hallmark brand is all about people connecting. The secret, I think, to our success is that we focus on that relentlessly.”
“We really work hard to ensure that our women are strong—while they don’t need a man, they’d love to fall in love.”
This secret to success doesn’t come without detractors, though. Abbott and Vicary know there are plenty of people who think the content is cheesy, but that doesn’t have to be a negative. “I have to be honest, I don’t always think predictable is a bad word,” Vicary says. “I think of every Nora Ephron comedy I ever watched—the first time I saw Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan on screen, I knew they were going to end up together. But it was the journey! So I don’t mind when you tune in that you know our characters—who are on two separate journeys—are going to end up together by the end. It’s about how they get there.”
OK, so how did Hallmark get here? How did it go from a brand-new network in the early aughts to a holiday empire? For one, consistency. Hallmark premieres most of the original movies on Saturdays and Sundays, a time when other networks air sports or re-runs. “It’s the perfect time to unwind and get away from reality,” Abbott says. “We appeal to people wanting that escape over the weekend.”
Second, it’s investment. “Our movies are so much better because our production value, our stars, our music, our scriptwriting, our development, and our production are so much better than they’ve ever been,” Abbott says. “Success snowballs. The more you do right, the more people notice; the more people notice, the more you invest; the more you invest, the more you pay attention, and the better it gets.”
PHOTO: Hallmark Channel
LeAnn Rimes in ‘It’s Christmas, Eve’.
And finally, as Vicary points out, it’s about creating an experience. “We’re an emotionally-driven brand. We’re about enhancing relationships and enhancing life.” She says in the last decade the network has tapped into viewers’ love of celebration. “The Hallmark brand already lives in that space, so it really is about delivering on the experience of the brand.”
And then there’s the wish-fulfillment aspect, those picturesque, snow-capped towns and leads in color-coordinated holiday attire. “We’re not embarrassed to say, ‘Let’s make it sound even more holiday oriented,” Vicary says with a laugh. “We are not shy about creating an environment that compliments and enhances that great story.”
Still, that “environment” has come under more scrutiny in the past few years for being predominantly white, straight, and without much diversity. The network needs to do more to reflect America today—and Abbott says the Hallmark Channel team is aware and working on it. “Absolutely, no question about it,” Abbott says. “We’ve worked really hard at it. It’s the type of thing we should have been doing all along, but we’re pleased at where we are.”
Where they are is a more diverse slate of programming than years past. It’s not perfect yet, but one example of progress is a recent full-page ad Crown Media took out in The Hollywood Reporter to showcase its holiday slate. Of the 14 actors in the ad, nine were women, seven were people of color, and five were women of color.
“I don’t care what political party you’re part of or where you live, people like to feel positive.”
“Our goal is to do everything we can to represent the public faces on television and represent the United States as it really looks on our air,” Vicary says. “I think we have some terrific casting this year with Tatyana Ali, Dondre T. Whitfield, Patti LaBelle, Christina Milian, Jerrika Hinton, Tia Mowry, and more. We have our most diverse slate ever.”
In addition to what viewers see on air, Vicary notes that “more than 50% of the scripts that were written this year were written by women.” She also said they’re consciously trying to hire more female directors and behind-the-scenes crew. “I think in the last year we have added three more women to our roster of directors,” Vicary says. “We are very conscious of it.”
But Abbott or Vicary know that’s not enough. The executives are discussing a possible Hanukkah movie to join their holiday lineup (“One of my development execs brought me one this week that they were really excited about,” Vicary says. “I said, ‘Great, let’s meet and talk about it for 2019.”) According to Abbott, he’s even open to a Hallmark movie where the main couple doesn’t end up together. “As we delve into our content and [look for] a more authentic way, we’ll progress,” he says. “Everything is on the table.”
PHOTO: Hallmark
Danielle Panabaker and Matt Long in ‘Christmas Joy’.
That progress is important to Abbott and Vicary, who want Hallmark to stay current and evolving. “It’s particularly important that we represent the reality of the twenty-first century in that everybody is different and unique,” Abbott says. “It’s a pet peeve of mine when I read a story and kids are portrayed a certain way. The reality is girls can play baseball or be into science or play with dolls.”
Abbott even acknowledges that the network’s older movies were guilty of playing into stereotypes.”You look back at some of old, old movies, and it’s kind of the stereotypical situation of the woman at home,” he says. “We work very hard to stay out of that stereotypical dialogue and situational behavior because it’s just not reality, and it’s not authentic. We really try to empower women. We really work hard to ensure that our women are strong—while they don’t need a man, they’d love to fall in love. But at the end of the day, that is not what they need to be successful or happy or fulfilled or have a good career. That is something that is very important to all of us to portray.”
That awareness is one of the reasons Abbott credits the Hallmark Channel’s growth in markets like Chicago, New York, Dallas, Houston, Philadelphia, and D.C. “I think there’s this feeling that we’re flyover country and that it’s all red-state people,” he says. “That’s just completely not true. Everybody likes to feel good. I don’t care what political party you’re part of or where you live, people like to feel positive.” Yes, Hallmark’s content isn’t edgy—”and never will be”—but it’s certainly smarter than it’s ever been. “And that wins.”
It’s been a stressful year, but at least you can count on Hallmark, Lifetime, and Netflix to come through with the holiday cheer. After all, what’s more relaxing than watching an overworked woman fall in love with a Christmas tree farmer? So decompress with all of our delightful holiday content right here.
Few designers achieved the level of everywhere-ness that Kate Spade did. Her signature nylon handbags were a nineties staple; her cheerful color palettes, her playful aesthetic, and her optimistic slogans made her brand beloved across the country and internationally. Her story—of teaching herself the business, of starting her own company, of leaving her own company, of starting a second company—has been retold, inspiring young entrepreneurs, women, and, of course, her shoppers. When news of her passing broke on June 5, it felt personal to many.
Kate Valentine Spade (née Brosnahan) was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Arizona State University in 1985—there she met Andy Spade while working retail, and together they moved to New York after college. Kate got work through a temp agency before becoming a fashion assistant at Mademoiselle, which was published by Condé Nast. She rose up the ranks of the magazine, and, when she was promoted to associate editor, she was put in charge of accessories.
Spade left Mademoiselle in 1991. At that point she had been the publication’s senior fashion editor—and she had an idea to create a handbag line, despite having no formal design training. “I remember being really embarrassed that I wasn’t a student from Parsons or RISD or FIT, that I really didn’t know what I was doing,” she told NPR’s Guy Raz in 2017. “I honestly started with paper.” She’d “start by buying big sheets of white paper, and I would cut out and tape the shape that I wanted,” she recalled. “Then I’d look at it and I’d make it shorter, smaller…. I went to a pattern maker that I found in the back of Women’s Wear Daily…. She worked out of her apartment, and she was as patient as could be with me because I didn’t know anything.”
Two years later, in 1993, she and Andy officially founded Kate Spade the brand. (The name was a combination of the two’s names, at the time. They were married a year later, in 1994.) At the center of its inaugural collection was the “Sam” bag, a boxy handbag that would become one of its signatures. There were six styles total, ranging in price from $100 to $400—and, notably to many, featured the brand’s name, in lowercase, on the outside. It was carried at Barneys, Fred Segal, and Charivari. The company didn’t turn a profit for three years, though: “We were still not making any money. Nobody was making a salary. Andy was funding everything,” Spade told NPR. “I just remember thinking, I think we need to shut it down.”
The designer in her first store, in New York, in 1996
Nineteen ninety-six was a pivotal year for the brand. It’s when the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awarded Spade the New Fashion Talent in Accessories prize. (She would win another trophy from the organization in 1998, for Best Accessory Designer of the Year.) She also opened her first store, in New York’s downtown SoHo neighborhood. Andy quit his day job in advertising and joined the brand full-time. Plus, the company finally broke even.
Kate Spade the brand started gaining a following, thanks to its success at trade shows and in retail, features in magazines like Vogue, and celebrity endorsements. (Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow were reportedly early fans.) By 1998 it had stores in Boston, Los Angeles, and Tokyo.
Then, in 1999, Neiman Marcus Group bought a 56 percent stake of Kate Spade, at an estimated $33 million. The Spades remained involved with the company, though. And over the next few years, it would expand into new categories—bath and body (with Estée Lauder, in 2002), home (with Lenox, in 2003), and even airline uniforms (for the now defunct Song airlines, also in 2004).
PHOTO: David Howells
In 2002 Spade was named a Glamour Woman of the Year. “If you’re as honest and fair as you can be, not only in business but in life, things will work out,” she said her cover story interview. “I hope that people remember me not just as a good businesswoman but as a great friend—and a heck of a lot of fun.”
A few years later she told Vogue of her brand: “We’re not intimidating…. I think some people get nervous about fashion because they find it a little scary. But fashion should be enjoyed; it shouldn’t be looked at from a jaded, been-there-done-that point of view.”
PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 2006 Neiman Marcus Group sold Kate Spade to Liz Claiborne, Inc., for $124 million; the brand had been put on the market by the majority stakeholder for about a year before that, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Spades left the company a year later, in 2007, and haven’t been involved with it since. (Even though the brand still exists with the designer’s name, The Fashion Law posits that Spade likely signed an agreement that would prevent her from using her name for commercial purposes, as the trademark presumably belongs to its new owner.) That same year Deborah Lloyd was hired as Kate Spade’s new creative director. (Under Lloyd’s leadership, the brand would launch apparel, jewelry, children’s and other products, as well as a sister brand, Kate Spade Saturday.)
After walking away from Kate Spade the brand, Kate Spade the woman focused her efforts on philanthropy, through the Kate Spade & Company Foundation, and on raising her daughter, Frances Beatrix. Andy, meanwhile, started his own creative agency and founded the sleepwear brand Sleepy Jones.
PHOTO: Bloomberg
A Kate Spade New York storefront, in California
Liz Claiborne, Inc., would also undergo some changes in the following years: The company rebranded as Fifth & Pacific in 2012, then again to Kate Spade & Company in 2014. In 2017 Coach bought Kate Spade for a reported $2.4 billion; that fall it was incorporated into Tapestry, Inc.
In 2016 the Spades returned to fashion—more specifically, to the world of accessories—with a new venture, named after their daughter. Frances Valentine launched as a direct-to-consumer line, with select retail partners, like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s. To mark this new chapter, Kate legally changed her name from Kate Spade to Kate Valentine, a family name. “We’re not trying to be cheeky or coy,” she told Business of Fashion. “It really was to distinguish the name, and separate the two worlds. Obviously we’re super proud of Kate Spade, and we want to be respective of both.”
PHOTO: Ben Gabbe
The Spades promoting Frances Valentine in 2017
Even a decade after she had cut ties with the label that bore her name, Kate Valentine Spade couldn’t be totally separated from Kate Spade New York. She herself recounted an instance to The Wall Street Journal when her then-11-year-old stopped her in front of a Kate Spade store in Manhattan and said, “Mommy, that’s you.”
For many women, “Kate Spade” didn’t mean a handbag or even a New York designer—rather, it represented something bigger: a milestone purchase, an achievement, a first investment in one’s self. Twelve women told Glamour about their first Kate Spade moment, and countless others did the same on social media, in light of the designer’s death.
PHOTO: Thomas Iannaccone/Penske Media/REX/Shutterstock
Twenty-five years after she first entered the fashion industry, Kate Valentine Spade was still intertwined with that logo, that story, that message. After her untimely death, the legacy of her work, and the vivacious spirit it represented, will resonate even more deeply in fashion and beyond. “We honor all the beauty she brought into this world,” Kate Spade the brand said in a statement after her death. And, truly, we’re all better for it.
If you’re dealing with depression or suicidal thoughts, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
