New York - Kate Spade, the designer who
built a fashion empire on her signature handbags before selling
the brand, was found dead in her New York City apartment on
Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide, police said.
Spade, 55, hanged herself and was found by her housekeeper
at her home on Park Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the
New York Daily News reported, citing unnamed police officials.
Spade was a former accessories editor at the now-closed
Mademoiselle magazine before launching her namesake design
company, Kate Spade New York, in 1993. It began by selling
handbags before expanding to include clothing, jewelry, bedding,
legwear and fragrances. She sold the brand in 2006.
The Kansas City, Missouri, native married Andy Spade,
brother of actor David Spade, in 1994. In 2016, the couple
launched a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine, which
sells footwear and accessories.
Tapestry Inc, the handbag company formerly known as
Coach, bought the Kate Spade brand in May 2017 to tap
millennials, who are drawn to the company’s quirky satchels and
colorful tote bags. The deal also turned Coach into a multibrand
fashion house, a strategy that European counterparts such as
Louis Vuitton have built their businesses on.
The New York Police Department confirmed the designer's
death under her birth name, Katherine Noel Brosnahan. Spade's
business representatives did not respond to a request for
comment.