Social Rocket
Kate Spade New York turns its Christmas campaign 2026 into a creator party. Since 4 November, Bretman Rock, Sally Carden, the collective 4inthe5 and Micky Gordon have been at the center of a vlog-style video. The handbag brand links the social storytelling with gift products and shop windows. For marketing teams, what stands out is how the brand extends existing creator relationships into a new season.
The cast comes from the autumn campaign
Three of the four participants are not a spontaneous Christmas booking. Bretman Rock, Sally Carden and 4inthe5 were already part of the Kate Spade autumn campaign from 11 August. For the holidays, comedian Micky Gordon joins. Rather than searching for new faces every quarter, the brand relies on recurring personalities whose humor, aesthetic and community already suit the appearance.
The officially presented holiday spot stages a party in a New York apartment. Between conversations and gifts, the Margot Shoulder Bag and the Duo Mini Shoulder Bag appear. The film uses the familiar visual language of vlogs and livestreams – it is a produced campaign film, not the announcement of a real live event.
The same Christmas motif makes its way into retail: the window display at Rockefeller Center shows, among other things, a red-and-white striped taxi installation, New York symbols and oversized Christmas elements. So the storytelling does not end with the video. Camera aesthetics, products and point of sale belong to one shared visual world.
The German counterpart is both star and creator
ABOUT YOU takes a different approach. The Hamburg fashion retailer launched a Christmas film with Lena Gercke in Germany and Austria as early as 10 September 2026: she sets up a Christmas tree by the pool while it is still summery outside. The idea draws on her well-known enthusiasm for Christmas and her connection to her own fashion label LeGer.
Here the face works on several levels at once: Gercke is a television personality, creator, entrepreneur and long-standing partner. The campaign therefore uses not only fame but an existing narrative from her community. Kate Spade distributes this role across several creators with different audiences.
What the examples reveal about Christmas marketing
The classic star ensemble remains 2026present. Digiday reported on 6 November, for example, about familiar faces in major holiday campaigns. More decisive for creative planning, however, is what role the cast plays: a well-known face can open a broad advertising film; creators can carry a story across several videos, channels and community contacts.
This can already be traced in other campaigns. Anthropologie combines a creator mini-series with shopping and DoorDash. Express turns a couple's social success into a family campaign. SharkNinja combines prominent teaser posts with a large Christmas film.
For German brands this contains a concrete planning question: should the campaign reach as many people as quickly as possible, keep a community engaged over weeks, or directly create purchase occasions in the shop? Casting, format length, usage rights and success measurement all depend on this. Kate Spade relies on recognizable creators and product integration, ABOUT YOU on a personality with her own brand story. Both make Christmas advertising more than a one-off spot.
Sources: Kate Spade New York, holiday campaign from 4 November 2026 · Kate Spade New York, autumn campaign from 11 August 2026 · ABOUT YOU, 9 September 2026 · Digiday, 6 November 2026