Fashion designer Kate Spade dead at 55 in N.Y.C. apartment
Fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead in her New York apartment this morning of an apparent suicide.
According to the police, she was found hanging from a red scarf Tuesday morning in her bedroom at her Park Avenue home in Manhattan. The scarf had reportedly been tied to her door.
A housekeeper discovered her, and she apparently left a suicide note, though its contents are not known at this time, according to a police source
“We are all devastated by today’s tragedy,” her family said in a statement via the New York Daily News. “We loved Kate dearly and will miss her terribly. We would ask that our privacy be respected as we grieve during this very difficult time.”
Spade’s sister Eve Brosnahan told the Daily News, “It’s very difficult.”
Kate Spade, née Katherine Noel Brosnahan, was the designer behind her successful namesake label, Kate Spade New York.
She found the label with her husband, Andy Spade in 1993, and the brother of actor David Spade. The label designed colorful handbags before expanding into other accessories and clothing. Tapestry, Inc. bought Kate Spade in July 2017 for $2.4 billion.
After selling her ownership stake in her company in 2007, she and her husband took time away from design. “I needed a break and I really wanted to raise my daughter [Frances],” Spade told PEOPLE in 2016. “People asked me, ‘Don’t you miss it?’ I really didn’t. I mean, I loved what I was doing, but I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I might.”
In 2016 she was ready to launch a brand new accessories brand, Frances Valentine. She legally changed her name to Kate Valentine Spade to match her new label. “I thought it was important to distinguish who I am now,” she said. “I’m the same person, but there’s a difference.”
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First published: 6 June 2018, 11:12 IST