Archive copy by Jenni Baden Howard

It transpired that the first offering from Kate Spade Beauty would be a fragrance, which arrives here next week, accompanied by a line of luxurious bath and body treats. ‘People weren’t expecting me to do a perfume first,’ admits Spade. ‘But it’s what I love, and I’ve always only done what I’ve felt a real need for.’

Indeed. As is so often the case with million dollar empires, the Kate Spade label was founded on a fashion junkie’s fruitless search for the right bag. A former accessories editor on Mademoiselle magazine, the Kansas-born designer set about making her own (six, to be precise), with the help of her then boyfriend, and now husband and business partner. Six years on, Spade has a dedicated, international following which includes Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elle MacPherson, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Luggage, sunglasses, shoes and stationery have all followed. Spade’s signature style is simple and feminine - reflecting her love of Fifties fashion - with a modern, witty edge (unexpected, clever combinations of colour and fabric are a Spade hallmark).

They might have to wait a while for a make-up compact with her stamp on it, but Spade’s devotees won’t be disappointed by the scent. It is based on honeysuckle, which reminds Spade of her childhood, combined with gardenia, jasmine, tuberose and Fresh Muguet. Spade played “nose” in collaboration with Estée Lauder and a team of French perfumers. The result is a fresh, elegant fragrance.

‘I knew I wanted to do something beautiful with my favourite white flowers,’ she says. ‘After that, it was just a question of getting the balance right. It was an amazing, magical process. I think I drove the perfumers batty in the end, because I kept asking them to hold back on the jasmine or add more honeysuckle. A little knowledge can be a frightening thing.’

Far from being an afterthought, the body products, which range from a Body Wash to a Dusting Powder, are central to Spade’s beauty philosophy. ‘I adore the whole ritual of bathing, and using scrubs and lotions,’ says Spade, who thoughtfully includes a towelling head band with her Bath Oil. ‘It’s all about having “down time” to yourself, and you’re left with soft skin.’

Spade is a self-confessed product addict. ‘It’s not even funny. I have beach bags full of stuff which I can’t throw away,’ she says, laughing at herself. ‘I have all the anti-aging face creams, I buy into all of that. But I didn’t want my products to be about that. They were always going to be more of a treat than a treatment.’

Spade likes her creams to be rich and indulgent. ‘I have dry skin, so I like a really heavy moisturiser like Creme de La Mer,’ she says. Accordingly, her Buttercream body moisturiser is suitably serious. ‘We did a lotion, too, for people who prefer something lighter.’

Spade sticks to using shampoo and a cream rinse in her dark, naturally curly hair - ‘I don’t like to have products in my hair,’ she says - and smoothes it with Velcro rollers and an old-fashioned hood hair dryer. ‘I sit under my little tent, painting my toenails, and my husband says “Katie, if anyone else could see you now”.’

Her make-up essentials are pink blusher - ‘I like one by Prescriptives, but I’m always looking,’ - and a Bobbi Brown lipstick in Plum. ‘I apply dark, berry colours more like a stain than a lipstick,’ she says.

As you’d expect, the vintage-inspired packaging of Spade’s range begs to be showed off: ‘I thought, wouldn’t it be great not to have to hide away all the stuff you actually use when people come over?’

But she isn’t stopping in the bathroom. A Kate Spade Home collection is currently in the works. ‘When things happen in my life, I get ideas. My husband and I have been doing up our apartment for the last two years, and slowly I’ve started to think of things that I’d love. You know how it is, when you think “why can’t I find a wallpaper like this?” And I adore towels and bedding.’

As for the phantom make-up range, Spade isn’t ruling anything out. ‘I’d want to do something in a way that nobody’s come up with before, to make it special.’ You can bet the pink blush will be perfect.

• Kate Spade Beauty will be available at Harrods from 30 September. Prices start at £20 for a Soap Trio. Inquiries and mail order, tel: 020 7730 1234.