Free Tool · Kate Spade
Kate Spade Style Number Decoder
The small white tag sewn inside a Kate Spade bag tells you more than most sellers know: whether it was made for the outlet or the full-price line, whether the code is for a bag or a wallet, and the month it was made. This tool reads it. It can’t tell a fake from a genuine bag, because fakes copy these tags. Its value is knowing what you’re buying.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026
Where the style number is
A small white fabric tag with black print, sewn into an inside seam: usually the side seam of the main compartment or the top of the inside zip pocket, often stacked with a black woven tag or a “made in” tag. On wallets it sits in a card-slot or zip-section seam. The paper hang tag on new items repeats the style number.
| Line 1WKRU1234 | The style number. Every bag of that design and colour run shares it. This is what sellers wrongly call the “S/N”. |
| Line 2S123 | A factory code: a letter and three or four digits, or four letters on recent tags. Probably a factory or vendor ID. Kate Spade doesn’t publish the key, so the tool only shows it back to you. |
| Line 305/21 | The month and year it was made, from 2013 on. The oldest tags have only the first two lines. |
Enter the lines from the sewn tag
A small white fabric tag sewn into an inside seam prints up to three lines: the style number (for example WKRU1234, PXR00123 or KB123), a factory code and, from 2013, the month it was made.
Paper hang tag (optional)
Type what the hang tag says: the style number, the colour line (such as black(001)), the UPC and the price wording. It is the only way to tell outlet from full price on a K code.
This is a decoder, not a fake check.
Most fakes we’ve seen with a readable tag carry a real Kate Spade style number on a correctly laid-out tag. A match never proves a bag is genuine. Only an inconsistency tells you something. Kate Spade has no unique serial numbers. This is a style number shared by every bag of that design and colourway run. Listings that call it an “S/N” are using the wrong term. Want the bag itself checked? From $25 →
Four kinds of style number
Kate Spade has changed its style-number format a few times. The older two formats say whether the item was made for the outlet and whether it is a bag or a small leather good. The K codes used since about 2021 say neither. The families overlap by a year or so.
| Format | Dated | Outlet or full price? | Bag or wallet? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four-letter codePXRU1234, WLRU1234Dated before 2013 to about 2021 | before 2013 to about 2021 | Yes: P or W | Yes |
| Zero-padded codeWKR00123, PWR00123Dated about 2020 to 2024 | about 2020 to 2024 | Yes: P or W | Yes |
| K + four digitsK1234Dated about 2021 to 2023 | about 2021 to 2023 | No, check the hang tag | No |
| K + letter + three digitsKB123Dated 2023 on | 2023 on | No, check the hang tag | No |
What the letters mean
| First letter P | Full-price line, sold in Kate Spade boutiques and on katespade.com. |
| First letter W | Made for the outlet channel. It doesn’t mean lower quality, and it doesn’t mean fake. Outlets also sell past-season P items. |
| XR or KR (PXRU, WKRU, PXR00, WKR00) | Handbags: totes, satchels, crossbodies, backpacks and diaper bags. |
| WR or LR (PWRU, WLRU, PWR00, WLR00) | Wallets and small leather goods, which also covers wristlets, cosmetic cases and small crossbodies. |
| RU, and the second letter of K codes | No known meaning. The tool doesn’t decode them. |
Reading the date line
The third line is the production month. The format changed twice, so the format itself has to fit the year. Within a code family the dates rise with the style number, and a popular style stays in production for months or years.
| Years | Example | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| before 2013 | (no date line) | two-line tag |
| 2013 to mid-2016 | 1014 | MMYY: October 2014 |
| 2016 only | 11/2016 | MM/YYYY |
| 2017 on | 01/17 | MM/YY: January 2017 |
Outlet or full price on a K code
K codes appear on both katespade.com and katespadeoutlet.com, so the code alone can’t tell you. The paper hang tag can: outlet hang tags read “Our Price” with “debuted on” and a date, or “Comparable Value” with a price. If you paste the hang tag text into the tool, it looks for that wording. Some Kate Spade sites outside the US also sell outlet styles alongside full-price ones.
What the tool flags
Inconsistencies only. On genuine tags we checked, none of these came up.
- •A date line in the wrong format for its year, such as 0721 (by 2021 tags read 07/21) or a month above 12.
- •A date that doesn’t fit the code family, such as a K code dated 2015, or a date that hasn’t happened yet.
- •A handbag code (XR or KR) on an item you say is a wallet or wristlet.
- •A hang tag whose style number differs from the sewn tag.
- •A hang tag that reads (001), Kate Spade’s black, next to another colour name.
- •The one hang tag we’ve seen copied onto several separate fakes (details below).
What it does not flag
Each of these turns up on genuine Kate Spade items.
- •A code we don’t recognise. A few rare genuine prefixes aren’t in our table, so this is information only.
- •A missing sewn tag. Tags get cut out, and photos often miss them.
- •A W (outlet) code. It’s a channel, not a quality grade.
- •A P code on a bag bought at an outlet.
- •Any factory code, or a separate black woven tag carrying only a factory code.
- •Made in China. Recent bags are mostly made in Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia or Myanmar, but genuine China-made bags exist too.
The one hang tag we’ve seen copied onto fakes
A Maryanne hang tag from the Gold Coast collection, style PXRU2289, reference P04784, UPC 0 98689 24900 1 or 0 98689 24901 8, turned up on several separate fake bags, in pink and in black, both marked colour code (001). 001 is Kate Spade’s black, so a “pink(001)” tag contradicts itself. PXRU2289 is a real style, so the tool flags this exact tag, never the code alone. Hang tags are easy to move between bags, so a correct one proves nothing either.
What this tool can't tell you
- •Whether the bag is genuine. Fakes we’ve read print real style numbers, real factory codes and plausible dates on correctly laid-out tags, sometimes copied from a genuine bag line for line.
- •Which exact model or colour the code belongs to. Kate Spade has no public lookup.
- •Anything about shoes, clothing or jewellery. They use other code schemes.
- •The channel of a K-code item, unless you have the hang tag.
Want the full authentication guide?
Read how to authenticate a Kate Spade bag for the branding systems, hardware, materials and labels a copied tag can’t vouch for.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is the style number on a Kate Spade bag?
- On a small white fabric tag with black print, sewn into an inside seam: usually the side seam of the main compartment or the top of the inside zip pocket, often next to a black woven tag or a made-in tag. On wallets it sits in a card-slot or zip-section seam. The paper hang tag on new items repeats it. Tags are sometimes cut out.
- How can I tell if a Kate Spade bag is from the outlet?
- On four-letter codes (PXRU, WKRU) and zero-padded codes (PXR00, WKR00), a first letter W means the item was made for the outlet and P means the full-price line. K codes used since about 2021 don't say. For those, check the hang tag: "Our Price" with "debuted on", or "Comparable Value", is outlet wording. Outlets also sell past-season full-price items.
- Is the Kate Spade style number a serial number?
- No. Kate Spade has no unique serial numbers. The style number is shared by every bag of that design and colour run, so many genuine bags carry the same one. Listings that call it an S/N are using the wrong term, and no Kate Spade lookup can confirm a single bag from it.
- How do I know when my Kate Spade bag was made?
- Read the third line of the sewn tag. From 2013 to 2016 it prints four digits, so 1014 is October 2014. In 2016 some tags read 11/2016, and from 2017 it reads MM/YY, so 05/21 is May 2021. The oldest tags have only two lines and no date, which is normal on bags made before 2013.
- Does a correct style number mean my Kate Spade bag is real?
- No. Fakes we've read carry real Kate Spade style numbers, real factory codes and plausible dates on correctly laid-out tags, sometimes copied line for line from a genuine bag. A matching code proves nothing. Only an inconsistency, such as a date format that doesn't fit the year, tells you something.
Want to know if the bag itself is genuine?
Get it checked from $25. We check the bag, not the label: send photos of the sewn tag, the hardware, the logo and the stitching, and an authenticator gives you a written result.
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