bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

The Washington Post

Kate Spade, a designer best known for her simple, colourful handbags, which became favoured accessories of professional women in the 1990s, has been found dead at her home in Manhattan. She was 55.
She committed suicide on Monday by hanging, said police officials, who confirmed that a note was found at the scene.
‘Buying a Kate Spade bag was a rite of passage’ – Hongkongers, fashion world pay tribute to designer following her suicide
Citing law-enforcement sources, TMZ reported that the note was addressed to her 13-year-old daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade, and said: “Bea — I have always loved you. This is not your fault. Ask Daddy!”


Spade began her career at Mademoiselle magazine, where she worked her way up from an entry-level to senior editor for accessories. Often disappointed at the selection and prices of handbags available for fashion photo sessions, she decided to start a business and design them herself.

The designer bags from Prada and Louis Vuitton were too precious, in every way, to suit Spade, who preferred a simple woven bag with not zippers or flaps.
“I said to myself, ‘Where’s a bag that I can afford, that’s simple, that’s not saying too much and that I won’t be embarrassed to pull out every season?’ ” she told the Toronto Star in 1997.
Coach renamed to Tapestry to broaden image after Kate Spade purchase
With no training in design, she went to work in her apartment, using construction paper and Scotch tape to find the right dimensions. Her first handbag was made of burlap, the cheapest material she could find.
“I sat down with some tracing paper, and I knew immediately what the shape should be - a very simple square,” she told Fortune Small Business in 2003. “At the time no one was doing anything that clean. The shape gave me a real flexible canvas for applying all the ideas I had for a lot of colours, patterns, and fabrics.”

I remember when my mom bought me my first @KateSpadeNY bag in college. I treated it like a piece of art. So sad to hear... If you or someone you know needs help: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) June 5, 2018

She took her designs took to a manufacturer in Brooklyn and showed her first six models at an accessories show in 1993. She sold a few, but not enough to cover the cost of the booth at the exhibition hall.
Then unmarried and still known by her maiden name, Kate Brosnahan, she searched for the right brand name, trying out several before taking the advice of her boyfriend, Andy Spade.
Coach bags Kate Spade in US$2.4 billion deal
“Andy kept saying the whole time, ‘Kate Spade, Kate Spade - listen to how it sounds’,” Ms. Spade told The New York Times in 1999. The Kate Spade company was formed one year before she and Andy Spade were married in 1994.
She had another stroke of inspiration the night before another accessories trade show in New York.
“There was something missing,” Ms Spade told the Boston Globe in 1999. “We needed something for the eye to go to.”

Kate Spade was more than a designer. She had a quirky visual language that captivated Bat Mitzvah girls and artists alike. She was also a staple of NYC who spread good will. My heart breaks for her family. Thank you, Kate, from one of the millions you made feel beautiful.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) June 5, 2018

She decided removing the small black labels written in lowercase lettering - “kate spade new york” - from inside the handbags and put them on the outside. She stayed up all night, hand-stitching them to the exterior or her bags, giving them just the visual texture they needed.
Whether made of leather, nylon, canvas, tweed or other materials, a Kate Spade bag a distinctive look, with almost an architectural solidity. It was easy to carry and didn’t overwhelm the rest of a woman’s ensemble. Her bags often came in bright hues or pastels, with vibrantly contrasting linings and simple handles.

“I don’t like really long straps,” Spade told Newsday in 1996. “You might as well have your bag on a leash and drag it behind you.”
Her handbags were picked up by Barneys and other department stores, and Spade began recognized as one of the fashion world’s top designers of accessories. Vogue and other magazines featured her creations, and celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow were spotted carrying Kate Spade bags.
Her husband, who is the older brother of actor and comedian David Spade, left his job in advertising to become chief executive of the Kate Spade corporation. By the late 1990s, Ms Spade’s simple but chic handbags had become especially popular with upscale, working women.
“I like things to endure because that’s the way I shop,” Spade told the Toronto Star. “If I buy a cashmere sweater I want it to be something I wear for a long time. That’s how I feel about this company. I want it to be like a fashion version of L.L. Bean, never in or out.”
In 1998, she and her husband sold 56 per cent of their company to Neiman Marcus for US$33 million but retained creative control over the products.
“They are the most unlikely people that you expect to find in the fashion world,” Leonard Lauder, chairman of Estee Lauder, told Vanity Fair in 2002. “Kate is the girl next door. I’ve been acquainted with so many fashionistas over the years, and she is the anti-fashionista.”

Spade’s personal design aesthetic owed little to the passing whims of the fashion world.
“People would come in and want aubergine because it was the colour of the season,” she said in 2003. “They would say, ‘Everyone’s doing it!’ And I’d say, ‘Well, you’re probably covered then.’ ”
In time, Spade expanded her design offerings to paper products, sunglasses, shoes, luggage and clothing. She even designed flight attendants’ outfits. In 2002, she appeared on an episode of Just Shoot Me, a sitcom starring her brother-in-law, and branched out into writing books and general lifestyle advice. Kate Spade specialty stores opened around the world.
Critics said the quality of her materials declined, and the value of genuine Kate Spade items was undercut by a flourishing market of counterfeit bags. By 2007, the Spades had sold their remaining interest in the company to Neiman Marcus for US$124 million. The Kate Spade line was sold in turn to Liz Claiborne and is currently owned by a corporate entity called Tapestry.
Katherine Noel Brosnahan was born December 24, 1962, in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father owned a construction company, and her mother was a homemaker.
She followed few fashion trends, other than shopping for bright-coloured items at thrift stores, to stand out from her sisters.
While attending Arizona State University, she worked in a department store, where she met Andy Spade, a fellow student. She graduated in 1985 and later settled in New York, reportedly with only US$7 to her name.
Through an employment agency, she found an entry-level job at Mademoiselle, where she spent eight years. When she launched her design company, she had an agreement that she could return to the magazine if the venture failed.
In recent years, Ms Spade launched a new accessories line, Frances Valentine, named in part after her daughter, featuring new lines of handbags, shoes and other items.
Survivors include her husband and their 13-year-old daughter.
Known for her whimsical, slightly old-fashioned sense of style, Spade offered this fashion advice in a 2006 interview with the Kansas City Star: “Dress for yourself. It’s so much more fun.”
﻿If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, help is available. For Hong Kong, dial +852 28 960 000 for The Samaritans or +852 23 820 000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call The Lifeline on +1 800 273 8255. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page.


Hollywood shaken by Brad Pitt-Tom Cruise fight video made with Chinese AI: ‘over for us’

Who is Oli Higginson, the actor who plays footman John in Bridgerton?

Meet Bad Bunny’s brother, Bernie Martínez Ocasio, who is a model

Netflix K-drama The Art of Sarah review: Shin Hye-sun leads glitzy fashion-world mystery

Fame and celebrity

Fashion designer Kate Spade, 55, commits suicide in her New York home

Spade, who reportedly left a note to her 13-year-old daughter, created a fashion powerhouse with her simple, chic and colourful handbags

Medical examiners remove the body from the Park Avenue apartment of designer Kate Spade in New York, U.S. June 5, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The Kate Spade logo appears on one of her handbags, in her store in New York's Soho neighborhood, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. Spade was found hanged in her apartment Tuesday in an apparent suicide, law enforcement officials said. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Fashion Kate Spade poses with handbags and shoes from her collection in New York in 2004. Law enforcement officials said she was found dead on Tuesday after committing suicide. Photo: AP

Kate Spade’s husband says she had been treated for depression for five years, slams release of suicide note

Kate Spade is seen in 2016 as she debuted her new accessories line, Frances Valentine, in New York. While her fashion style was thought of a bright and poppy, she struggled with manic depression. Photo: Kate Warren/The Washington Post

Shoes from Kate Spade's new Frances Valentine line in 2016. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Kate Warren

Actor and comedian Robin Williams arrives at the premiere of the film "World's Greatest Dad" during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in this January 18, 2009 file photo. Williams' ashes have been scattered in the San Francisco Bay following his apparent suicide, according to a death certificate released by Marin County on Thursday. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT OBITUARY)

Kate Spade, a bag designer in her shop at Gateway, Tsim Sha Tsui. 26 February 2003

‘Buying a Kate Spade bag was a rite of passage’ – Hongkongers, fashion world pay tribute to designer following her suicide

Like the rest of the world, Hong Kong was seduced by American accessories designer’s quirky handbags – and just as stunned by her death at the age of 55

Comedian Kathy Griffin shows off her Kate Spade handbag and dress before receiving a Rainbow Key Award from the City of West Hollywood, Tuesday, June 5, 2018, in West Hollywood, Calif. Fashion designer Spade was found dead in her New York City apartment Tuesday in an apparent suicide, police said. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

The outside of a Kate Spade store is seen in Manhattan, New York, U.S., June 5, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Kate Spade attends the 2004 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York. Fans of the designer’s quirky bags, and the fashion world, are in shock at her death, aged 55. Photo: AFP

Kate Spade and three other designers whose untimely deaths shock fashion world

Four fashion designers who died too soon: (clockwise from bottom left) Kate Spade, Alexander McQueen, Raffaele Borriello and Richard Nicoll.

British fashion designer Richard Nicoll poses for pictures on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the British Fashion Awards 2014 in London on December 1, 2014. AFP PHOTO/JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS

Kate Spade in 2016. MUST CREDIT: Photo for The Washington Post by Kate Warren

Italian Paris-based designer Raffaele Borriello FOR STYLE ONE TIME USE ONLY

***PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE REUSE*** Portrait of Fashion Designer Alexander McQueen from 1997. [03APR2015 BROADSHEET LUXURY]

Fashion designer Kate Spade remembered as vibrant and colourful, like her ‘IT’ bag creations

FILE - In this May 13, 2004 file photo, designer Kate Spade poses with handbags and shoes from her next collection in New York. Law enforcement officials say Tuesday, June 5, 2018, that New York fashion designer Kate Spade has been found dead in her apartment in an apparent suicide. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

TOPSHOT - The body of fashion designer Kate Spade is removed by New York City Coroner's Office personnel after she was found dead at age 55 at her Park Avenue apartment on June 5, 2018 in New York. Spade, one of the biggest names in American fashion, was found dead Tuesday in New York after committing suicide, police said. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. Smith

Kate Spade reacts as she meets Kathy Rohr, a classmate and friend from St. Teresa's Academy, during an event at Hall's on Grand at Crown Center Plaza on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 in Kansas City, Mo. (Shane Keyser/Kansas City Star/TNS)

News

World

United States & Canada

Spade, who reportedly left a note to her 13-year-old daughter, created a fashion powerhouse with her simple, chic and colourful handbags


Fashion

Obituaries

Fashion designer Kate Spade, 55, commits suicide in her New York home

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Spade, who reportedly left a note to her 13-year-old daughter, created a fashion powerhouse with her simple, chic and colourful handbags

Spade, who reportedly left a note to her 13-year-old daughter, created a fashion powerhouse with her simple, chic and colourful handbags