Kate Brosnahan Spade, who created an iconic, accessible handbag line that bridged Main Street and high-end fashion, hanged herself in an apparent suicide Tuesday at her Manhattan apartment.
Officials say the body of the 55-year-old businesswoman was found by housekeeping staff inside her Park Avenue apartment. Police said they were investigating her death, at 55, as an apparent suicide.
Spade’s family said in a statement that they were “devastated by today’s tragedy” and would “miss her terribly”. They asked for privacy.
The designer is survived by her husband, Andy Spade, and their teenage daughter, Frances Beatrix.
The Council of Fashion Designers of America has paid tribute to Kate Spade, who died on Tuesday, calling her “a great talent who had an immeasurable impact on American fashion”.
The designer, 55, started Kate Spade New York in 1993 and opened her first shop in the city three years later, the company’s website states.
“Debuting with just six silhouettes, she combined sleek, utilitarian shapes and colorful palettes in an entirely new way,” the site says.
Best known for its colorful handbags, Kate Spade New York has more than 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the United States and more than 175 stores internationally, the site states.