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Fashion designer Kate Spade dies at 55

Creator of iconic handbags found dead of apparent suicide in NYC

- Cara Kelly and Maria Puente

Iconic fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead Tuesday in her New York City apartment of an apparent suicide. She was 55.

Detective Sophia Mason, a spokeswoma­n for the NYPD, confirmed to USA TODAY that Spade was found dead of an apparent hanging at a Park Avenue address around 10:30 a.m. ET.

Spade was found by a housekeepe­r. Her husband and business partner, Andy Spade, was in the house at the time, according to the Associated Press.

The Associated Press and CBS New York reported that a suicide note was found at the apartment, but police did not immediatel­y confirm that.

Spade is survived by her 13-year-old daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade. Spade’s new fashion line, Frances Valentine, is named for her daughter.

Through her husband, Spade was the sister-in-law of comedian David Spade. She was also the aunt of Rachel Brosnahan, star of Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Spade became a fashion force and cultural touchstone for her instantly recognizab­le handbags featuring modern, sleek looks with bold pops of color and feminine touches. Along with her husband, she grew a small line founded in 1993 to an internatio­nal behemoth bearing her name.

Spade was born Katherine Noel Brosnahan in Kansas City, Mo., in 1962. She met Andy Spade at Arizona State University in the 1980s when they were both students working part time at Carter’s

men’s store.

After graduation, Spade moved to New York, starting her career at Mademoisel­le magazine as an accessorie­s editor.

“She stopped in New York for one night on a trip back from Europe,” Andy told USA TODAY in a 1997 interview, “and went to Mademoisel­le for a temp job and was hired.”

It was there she saw a need for practical yet fashionabl­e handbags.

Along with her husband and friend Elyce Arons, Spade launched the company with an iconic $155 black nylon handbag and five other basics, mostly square and minus froufrou decoration.

Distinguis­hed by the discreet rectangula­r label on the outside of each bag, the line found a niche as a quintessen­tially preppy favorite: functional classics in occasional­ly offbeat colors designed never to succumb to trendiness.

They quickly became popular with celebritie­s such as Sandra Bullock and Linda Evangelist­a.

“Back then people weren’t doing simple designs. There was a PBS tote bag that had style, but it wasn’t made well,” she told USA TODAY in 1997.

Paola Venturi joined the trio as design director when the company began to make shoes in 2001. All walked away from the company in 2007, one year after it was acquired by the group then known as Liz Claiborne Inc. for $125 million. The group subsequent­ly sold off its other operations and became Kate Spade & Co.

Kate and Andy launched shoe and handbag line Frances Valentine in 2015.

Kate Spade New York now has more than 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the U.S. and more than 175 shops internatio­nally. The company posted a tweet mourning her: “We honor all the beauty she brought into this world.”

Julia Curry, a spokeswoma­n for the company, said that “Kate will be dearly missed” and “our thoughts are with Andy and the entire Spade family at this time.”

Friends and admirers expressed shock and sadness at the news.

Diane von Furstenber­g and Steven Kolb issued a statement on behalf of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which held its 2018 awards Monday night.

Spade was a two-time winner, in

1998 and 1996, of a CFDA Internatio­nal Award, considered the equivalent of an Oscar for the fashion world.

“The CFDA is devastated to hear the news of our friend, colleague, and CFDA member Kate Spade’s tragic passing. She was a great talent who had an immeasurab­le impact on American fashion and the way the world viewed American accessorie­s.

“We want to honor her life and her major contributi­on to the fashion business and express our most sincere condolence­s to the family,” the statement said.

Spade’s death is one of a number of high-profile suicides by hanging. Chester Bennington, frontman for Linkin Park, hanged himself in his home near Los Angeles in July 2017. He was 41.

Designer and model L’Wren Scott, then the girlfriend of Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, committed suicide in her Manhattan apartment in March 2014. She was 49.

And comedian/actor Robin Williams committed suicide in August

2014 in a bedroom of his home in Marin County, Calif. He was 63.

 ?? BEBETO MATTHEWS/ AP ?? Kate Spade sold her eponymous brand in 2007 and launched shoe and handbag line Frances Valentine in 2015.
BEBETO MATTHEWS/ AP Kate Spade sold her eponymous brand in 2007 and launched shoe and handbag line Frances Valentine in 2015.
 ?? ROSE HARTMAN/SIPA USA/USA TODAY NETWORK ??
ROSE HARTMAN/SIPA USA/USA TODAY NETWORK

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