What to Know
- Designers and celebrities including Ivanka Trump took to Twitter to mourn the death of fashion icon Kate Spade
- Spade was been found dead of an apparent suicide in her Park Avenue home on Tuesday morning
- She was 55 years old and leaves behind her husband of 24 years and a daughter
Hundreds of people -- including fellow designers and celebrities -- took to social media to mourn the death of fashion icon Kate Spade as news of the 55-year-old's apparent suicide spread.
The founder of the eponymous design label was found dead in her New York City apartment on Tuesday morning along with a note, according to officials and the Associated Press.
[NY-NATL] Remembering NYC Fashion Icon Kate Spade
In the early 1990s, Spade, then an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine, launched her company with her husband in their apartment. She started the company based on six shapes of bags that she thought every working woman needed -- and it would propel her to the upper echelons of the exceedingly competitive global fashion and design industry. She later walked away from her label in 2007.
Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour said in a statement, "Kate designed with great charm and humor, and built a global empire that reflected exactly who she was and how she lived. Long before we talked about authenticity, she defined it." (Read the full statement from Wintour here.)
"'I believed that I could, so I did.'" She alone didn’t change the handbag world but she was an inspiring accessory," tweeted fellow designer Kenneth Cole.
Liz Lange, another designer, added "The nicest woman, the first person to compliment me on Liz Lange Maternity when I first started. And the creator of the most iconic brand. I am heart broken by this news."
Even first daughter Ivanka Trump mourned the designer, writing "Kate Spade’s tragic passing is a painful reminder that we never truly know another’s pain or the burden they carry. If you are struggling with depression and contemplating suicide, please, please seek help."
If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741.
