Kate Spade has died at the age of 55, US website TMZ has revealed. The fashion designer reportedly took her own life and was found at her Park Avenue, New York home on Tuesday morning. Kate was best known for co-founding Kate Spade Handbags in the nineties and for designing block colour, feminine bags. The brand is loved by celebrities including Blake Lively, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Alba and Taylor Swift, who have all been spotted carrying the designer items.
The Duchess of Cambridge is another fan of the brand. Last year, when she was pregnant with Prince Louis, she was pictured wearing a Kate Spade New York A-line dress, which featured an empire waist and polka dot design. Her other pretty Kate Spade items include a pink and purple floral midi dress with a tie collar and a pair of tassel earrings, while younger sister Pippa Middleton was spotted wearing a striped sundress, also by the American label, on her honeymoon last year.
Kate died at her home in New York
Kate is survived by her husband Andy Spade and their teenage daughter Frances Beatrix. The couple launched Kate Spade Handbags in 1993, after which it expanded into a full-scale clothing and jewellery line. Three years later, the Kate Spade brand opened its first boutique in Manhattan; there are now 140 retail shops and outlet stores across American and 175 shops internationally.
Tributes pour in for Kate Spade...
The couple married in 1994 and welcomed their daughter in 2005. Kate sold her company in 2007 and took time off to raise her young child. In 2016, she returned to work and launched a new brand called Frances Valentine – named after her daughter. Kate was also known for her Kate Spade at Home collection, which went international in 2004.
The designer, whose full name was Katherine Noel Brosnahan, graduated from Arizona State University in 1985 with a journalism degree. A year later she started to work for the prestigious Mademoiselle magazine, which is where she met her husband.