Yesterday’s news really got me and my outfit post from Le Dîner en Blanc has to wait another day… Around 10am New York time, fashion designer KATE SPADE
, 55, was found dead by a housekeeper in her bedroom at her Park Avenue apartment in N.Y.C. Apparently she hang herself with a red scarf from a doorknob. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to The New York Times.
The Spade family
What really gives me chills is the fact that she is survived by her husband of 24 years and her 13-year-old daughter. Being a mum myself, I cannot imagine the pain that has to be inside you to do this to your family. It is said that she left a note behind with messages for them to explain her actions. Her husband Andy was at home while their daughter was in school.
Message on the Kate Spade website
KATE SPADE‘s story is a successful one at least when you read it. Neé Katherine Noel Brosnahan, founded her namesake brand in 1993 with husband Andy Spade after working in the accessories department at the fashion magazine Mademoiselle. While having dinner at a restaurant, both were identifying a market for quality stylish handbags which led to a fashion revolution in the 1990s by establishing one of the first modern accessories brands that did not rely on European roots.
Detachable tag tote by Kate Spade
Spade’s reasonably priced, box-shaped bags, covered in modest fabrics like microfiber and grosgrain, became quickly became popular, and the company expanded into other product lines, such as clothing and shoes.
Kate Spade amongst her handbags in 1999.
In 1999 she sold a 56% stake in KATE SPADE New York to Neiman Marcus Group; in 2006 she sold the rest of her shares, opting to focus on family over fashion as she had her daughter at quite a late age in 2005. «I needed a break and I really wanted to raise my daughter,» she told PEOPLE magazine in 2016. «People asked me, ‘Don’t you miss it?’ I really didn’t. I mean, I loved what I was doing, but I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I might.»
Pieces from Kate’s new label Frances Valentine
Two years ago, she began another accessories brand, Frances Valentine, named for her daughter, Frances Beatrix, together with her husband. For this reason, she legally changed her name to Kate Valentine Spade to match her new label. «I thought it was important to distinguish who I am now,» she said. «I’m the same person, but there’s a difference.»
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The difference might have killed her. R.I.P. Kate Spade! I am wishing the family a lot of strength to cope with this terrible strategy.
LoL, Sandra
Photos: Courtesy of Kate Spade, © Sandra Bauknecht, Getty and People magazine
Scarf dressing has been spotted in all ways on the F/W 2018 runways…
Kaia at the launch event dressed in pieces from the «KARL LAGERFELD X KAIA» collection.
Late night performance by Kaia’s best friend singer Charlotte Lawrence
Beautiful siblings: Kaia and Presley Gerber at the event.
