Don’t bother trying to figure out exactly what Partners & Spade is—that would ruin all the fun. Andy Spade and Anthony Sperduti, the incomprehensibly creative men spearheading the company, attack an incredible range of projects—as Anthony puts it, “We’ve done furniture, we’ve done lamps, we’ve done chairs, we’ve done ties, we’ve done books, we’ve done films”—and their interest set is always in flux. Here, Anthony runs through the things that are informing them and their works at this moment in time. MovieThe Last Detail: “I just re-watched it—it’s Hal Ashby at his finest. It’s fun to see New York as it was: a dirty old city to go to on shore leave. WebsiteHaw-lin: “It’s always unique and specific in its visual and cultural sophistication.” BrandMargiela: “It’s our favorite now and since we can remember. Smart, contrarian, tasteful—everything this brand does, we are jealous of.” BookI Heart Transylvania: “Jason Nocito, an incredibly talented artist we just had the pleasure to work with, made a beautiful, modern, poetic photography book about his wife.” RestaurantRed Rooster: “It’s great to see a chef fearlessly experimenting—and uptown, nonetheless.” ArtistTom Sachs: “The art world takes itself way to seriously. Tom does otherwise.” MagazineThe Paris Review: “The publication has been steadfast in its quality of writing and artwork. It makes us proud to live in the same city.” SpaceBrooklyn Navy Yard: “From friends’ studios to the abandoned buildings, it’s an inspiring ode to MAKING THINGS—too rare these days in this country.” TV ShowCharlie Rose: “His is probably the only TV show we can think of where we don’t feel guilty after watching it.” These men (with very good taste) made us a rad, hand-painted tie. You should probably check it out.

To get to chapter one of the tale of Partners & Spade, you have to go back nearly two decades. In 1993, Andy Spade (right) and Anthony Sperduti met while working at the ad agency Kirshenbaum Bond—“I was just out of school, and Andy was the creative director there. I’m sure our first encounter was him bossing me around,” Anthony says. At the time, one of Andy’s little side projects was Kate Spade, a company he launched with his then-future wife, and Anthony, being the junior guy, was pulled in for little favors. When Andy left to go full steam ahead on Kate Spade, he and Anthony found ways to keep working together—Anthony designed the original Jack Spade logo, even. Meanwhile, Anthony made his way through the ad world, doing time at Wieden+Kennedy and Chiat\Day, and when Andy and Kate sold their company, the two guys decided to open a studio together. To try to define exactly what Partners & Spade is—well, that’s where things get tricky. They do branding. They make movies. They publish books. And sometimes, when the mood strikes them, they design things you can wear or sit on. They sell it all from their Great Jones Street store that, since 2009, has housed all kinds of amazingness from boxed sets of self-help books to vintage boxing speed bags to obscure trophies to Tanzanian clubs. “I think it depressed Andy and I to get into an elevator and go up to an office. It seemed like the world had enough design studios and ad agencies. We both very much love retail and experiential stuff,” Anthony explains. “When we’ve had ideas that have struck us, we’ve just done them. We desire to do something kind of different.” —erica Score the sweet-as-hell edition the guys made for us—a hand-painted tie.

“Andy and I both have a love of the classics, whether they be in design or film or fashion,” explains Anthony Sperduti, who started hyper-creative company Partners & Spade with Andy Spade in 2009. “We think a great repp-stripe tie is something every man should own, and we also love the aesthetic of artists—especially painters. It just struck us one day that it would be fun to hand-paint ties on the same canvas that someone use for a piece of artwork.” Here’s a look at how this played out for their amazing made-in-NYC Of a Kind edition. They painted us just 25 of these ties. Score one here while you can.