Fashion Scoops: Cannes Flash... Cocktails With Spade...

COCKTAILS AND KATE: Kate Spade threw a party last week to fete its new store concept. Bold, colorful stripes and campy decorative objects such as a rotary phone and record player now decorate its lower Fifth Avenue store, with other shops following suit in the coming months. Guests were Hula-hooping courtesy of free lessons and typing messages for the brand’s Twitter page on a vintage typewriter termed the “Tweeterwriter.” The store’s windows are decorated to encourage customers and those passing by to enjoy summer in the city with playful activities, such as renting a tandem bicycle or cocktailing outdoors. “The shop experience and assortment are the most dramatic and bold expression to date of where Kate Spade is going,” said William L. McComb, chief executive officer of Liz Claiborne Inc. “This is why we bought this brand and the store reset signals its future.”