The American famous fashion designer, Kate Spade committed suicide in her home in Manhattan, New York. It was confirmed by the NYPD officials who discovered her body hanging by the rope in an apparent suicide around after 10:00 am after the 55-year old was first found by her housekeeper.
She left a suicide note addressing her only child and daughter, according to the police sources. Nothing about what is written on the note has been revealed but her sister Reta Saffo said the fashion star’s suicide was “not unexpected.”
According to her “sometimes you simply cannot save people from themselves.”
While the world mourns the woman whose handbags carried most women into adulthood, let’s take a stroll through her successful Fashion Career.
Kate Spade Successful Career In Fashion
Born on Dec. 24, 1962, in Kansas City, Missouri, US as Kate Valentine, is most popular for her colorful handbags suitable for all ages.
After graduating from Arizona State University, with a degree in journalism in 1985, Spade acquired tons of career experience working in the accessories department of Mademoiselle in Manhattan, where her sense of style sprung from years of observations as a senior fashion editor and head of accessories.
She and her husband Andy Spade found the brand that became a house name, Kate Spade Handbags that is based in New York in 1993 and initially started off with designing handbags, but later extended to designing other fashion accessories such as clothing, fragrances, jewelry, eyewear, shoes, stationery, baby items, bedding, tabletop and gifts.
Kate Spade debuted with just six silhouettes, she combined sleek, utilitarian shapes and colorful palettes in an entirely new way, according to her company’s website. Now she has more than 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the United States and more than 175 stores internationally.
In 1999, she and her husband Andy whom she worked side-by-side as salespersons in a men’s clothing store, at Carter’s Men Shop in Phoenix, sold 56% of the Kate Spade brand to Neiman Marcus Group Inc, for $33.6 million, and the remaining 44% in 2006 – the same year Neiman Marcus sold the Kate Spade label for $124 million to another cooperation, Liz Claiborne Inc.
While under the management of both Spade and the Marcus Group in 2004, the company launched Kate Spade at Home, a collection brand featuring beddings, china, bath items, wallpaper and variety of home items.
The Kate Spade brand currently sold off to Coach, Inc. for $2.4 billion in May 2017.
Kate Spade (herself) became an author of three books Manners, Occasions, and Style, sharing her personal philosophies and style.
She focused on a regular life, raising her daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade, after the sale of the company in 2006, however, she and partners launched a whole new brand named Frances Valentine which is a collection of luxury handbags and footwear.
Spade worn several awards including :
- America’s New Fashion Talent in Accessories,
- Giants of Design Award for Tastemaker,
- American Food and Entertaining Award for Designer of the Year,
- Elle Decor International Design Award for Bedding.
In 2017, Kate Spade was inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri, Kansas City, and was named one of the Most Creative People in Business.
Don’t Miss: Kate Spade Family, Husband, How Old is Her Daughter?
Death
Kate Spade’s sister, Reta Safo described her as a “precious, precious little person” and “genuine in almost every way,” but that her sister’s fame was unexpected and exacerbated what she believed was Spade’s bi-polar disorder.
All efforts by the family to convince Spade to go for medical treatment was in vain. Her sister revealed that one of the last things Spade told her was ”Reta, I know you hate funerals and don’t attend them, but for me would you PLEASE come to MINE, at least. Please!’
Reta also believes her sister’s plan was already in motion even as far as 2014, after they saw the news of Robin William’s suicide on TV. She added that Spade kept on watching it and watching it over and over.
The death of Kate Spade came as a shock as many prominent people expressed regret over her death on June 5, 2018. In a statement issued by Kate Spade New York, the company said although Spade has not been ‘affiliated with the brand for more than a decade, she and her husband and creative partner, Andy, were the founders of ‘our beloved brand.’ They extended their thought to the family quote, “Kate will be dearly missed. Our thoughts are with Andy and the entire Spade family at this time. We honor all the beauty she brought into this world.”
Nikki Harley, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations extended her condolence via twitter saying that ‘the passing of Kate Spade is a stark reminder that we never know the struggles of a person regardless of their outward persona. If you or anyone you love is struggling, there is help. You don’t have to be alone.”
