Kate Spade Creative Director’s ‘People-First’ Approach Always in Style

Kate Spade Senior Director of Marketing and Creative Miho Sugimoto (MBA ’93) wasn’t sure about working in the fashion industry at first. She worked at companies like Starbucks and Coca-Cola after graduating from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, but then she was convinced the industry offered the sort of speed and innovation that drives her.

Sugimoto discussed her work in the fashion industry in a new profile on The Network section of the Darden website.

She flies between Japan and New York City, directing Kate Spade’s marketing efforts on both sides of the globe and overseeing everything from how products are presented in stores to how the company uses data analytics to attract new customers. And she loves it.

“What I enjoy most is the speed and the innovation when you bring a product to launch,” she said. “We have stores around the world, and if you want to improve something, you can often make the change very quickly and see results in one or two days.”

Sugimoto also shared how the people-first mentality she learned at Darden still guides her management approach.

“It is always people who drive the business and matter most,” Sugimoto said. “Creating an environment where every team member can exercise leadership in their area of expertise and feel valued is becoming more and more critical in a rapidly moving world that demands agility and creativity.”

Read the full profile on The Network.