Buying a Kate Spade handbag was a coming-of-age ritual for a generation of American women. The designer created an accessories empire that helped define the look of an era. The purses she made became a status symbol and a token of adulthood.
Ms. Spade, who was found dead Tuesday in what police characterized as a suicide by hanging, worked as an editor before making the leap to designing, constructing her first sketches from paper and Scotch tape. She would come to attach her name to a bounty of products, and ideas: home goods and china and towels and so much else, all of it poised atop the thin line between accessibility and luxury.
One of the first of a wave of American women contemporary designers who emerged in the 1990s, she built a brand on the appeal of clothes and accessories that made shoppers smile. She embodied her own aesthetic, with her proto-1960s bouffant, nerd glasses and playful grin. Beneath that image was a business mind that understood the opportunities in building a lifestyle brand, almost before the term officially existed.
Her name became a shorthand for the cute, clever bags that were an instant hit with cosmopolitan women in the early stages of their careers and, later, young girls — status symbols of a more attainable, all-American sort than a Fendi clutch or Chanel bag. Ms. Spade became the very visible face of her brand and paved the way for female lifestyle designers like Tory Burch or Jenna Lyons of J. Crew.
New York (CNN) Kate Brosnahan Spade, who created an iconic, accessible handbag line that bridged Main Street and high-end fashion, hanged herself in an apparent suicide Tuesday at her Manhattan apartment, according to New York Police Department sources.
Police responded at 10:10 a.m. after Spade was found by her housekeeper, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said. A suicide note was found at the scene, he said. Spade addressed her daughter in the note, according to two NYPD sources. Spade's husband also is referenced in the note, according to one of the sources.
The designer, 55, started Kate Spade New York in 1993 and opened her first shop in the city three years later, the company's website states
"Debuting with just six silhouettes, she combined sleek, utilitarian shapes and colorful palettes in an entirely new way," the site says.
Best known for its colorful handbags, Kate Spade New York has more than 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the United States and more than 175 stores internationally, the site states.
Over time, she distanced herself from her business.
In 1999, she and her husband, Andy Spade, sold 56% of the brand to Neiman Marcus for $33.6 million. Liz Claiborne acquired the company in 2007, and Spade left her namesake brand. The luxury fashion company Coach announced plans in May 2017 to buy Kate Spade for $2.4 billion
Kate Spade New York issued a statement confirming the "incredibly sad news" of their eponymous founder's death.
"Although Kate 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," the statement said. "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," the company said in a tweet.
More than a purse
Spade was found hanged by a scarf she allegedly tied to a doorknob, an NYPD source said.
Her death prompted an outpouring of grief among fans and her company's customers , including Chelsea Clinton and Ivanka Trump.
My grandmother gave me my first Kate Spade bag when I was in college. I still have it. Holding Kate's family, friends and loved ones in my heart. — Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 5, 2018
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. https://t.co/eruSexNoGj — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 5, 2018
"Everyone remembers their first Kate Spade," CNN White House reporter and former fashion editor Kate Bennett said. "(The brand) became one of those accessible but quirky fun, timeless labels that everyone had to have, and her rise was synonymous with her name."
For many women, a Kate Spade handbag functioned as a symbol of professional achievement.
A year into being an attorney, my first splurge on myself was my (still) perfect #KateSpade black purse. Functional, crisp, professional, gorgeous. It takes a beautiful mind to design beautiful things. #RIP pic.twitter.com/NieF3sS7uI — ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕪𝕒 (@ChayaBaliga) June 5, 2018
I was 22 when I moved to NYC and got my first real job and it even paid overtime. My first check that had OT hours in it, I set aside that money and bought myself a @katespadeny bag. It was 1998 and I felt so proud and successful. #RIPKateSpade ♥️ — alyssa mastromonaco (@AlyssaMastro44) June 5, 2018
The Council of Fashion Designers of America, which held a star-studded awards ceremony Monday night, posted a statement from Diane von Furstenberg and Steven Kolb saying they were devastated to hear of Spade's death.
"She was a great talent who had an immeasurable impact on American fashion and the way the world viewed American accessories," the statement said.
Cindi Leive, a former editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine, said that part of Spade's legacy is that she put her entire personality into her work.
"She understood that women are going to respond to things that feel like they're made by a human, that they are expressing someone's personality," Leive said.
"If you put a pulse into it and every fiber of your being, people are going to respond. Now, that's kind of a given. Everybody wants to create their own personal lifestyle brand," she added. "But that was new at the time, and in a lot of ways, the contemporary version of it really came from her."
JUST WATCHED 2002: Kate Spade on her fashion inspiration Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 2002: Kate Spade on her fashion inspiration 01:15
Before making the jump to designing, she was a senior fashion editor at the fashion magazine Mademoiselle.
Conversation at restaurant inspired Spade
Last year, Spade and her husband spoke with NPR's "How I Built This" about how they developed the company into a major lifestyle brand.
"So, Andy and I were out, honestly, at a Mexican restaurant," Kate Spade said, "and he just said, what about handbags? And I said, honey, you just don't start a handbag company. And he said, why not? How hard can it be? (Laughter) I thought, OK, really? He regrets those words."
Asking for help The suicide rate in the United States has seen sharp increases in recent years. It's now the 10th leading cause of death in the country, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Studies have shown that the risk of suicide declines sharply when people call the national suicide hotline: 1-800-273-TALK There is also a crisis text line. The lines are staffed by a mix of paid professionals and unpaid volunteers trained in crisis and suicide intervention. The confidential environment, the 24-hour accessibility, a caller's ability to hang up at any time and the person-centered care have helped its success, advocates say.
Joe Zee, a fashion journalist who had worked with Spade, recalled her telling him of the vision to start the handbag line.
"This wasn't something women did or just anyone really did back then in the early '90s," he told CNN. "And to quit a coveted magazine editor's job to really be able to do that ... it was so visionary and so ahead of its time."
"She always had such a great ray of light about her. She was so jovial," Zee said.
Kate Spade, fashion designer, found dead in her New York apartment at 55
Updated
Kate Spade, the designer who built a fashion empire on her signature handbags before selling the brand, has been found dead in her New York City apartment.
Key points: The New York Police Department confirmed the designer's death under her birth name
Kate Spade New York released a statement calling the news "incredibly sad"
Fans of the brand began posting pictures of their favourite handbags on social media
Police are investigating her death as an apparent suicide.
Spade, 55, was found by her housekeeper at her home on Park Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the New York Daily News reported, citing unnamed police officials.
Born Katherine Noel Brosnahan, the Kansas City, Missouri native was a former accessories editor at the now-closed Mademoiselle magazine before she and Andy Spade launched their namesake design company, Kate Spade New York, in 1993. The couple married the following year.
They began by selling handbags before expanding to include clothing, jewellery, bedding, legwear and fragrances.
The brand grew into a fashion empire, known for accessories that offered affordable luxury to younger working women.
Her brightly coloured, clean-lined style offered a spunky take on fashion at a time when luxury handbags were out of reach to most consumers, and the industry was dominated by venerable European brands.
The couple sold the brand in 2006.
In 2016, they launched a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine, which sells footwear and accessories.
Tapestry Inc, the handbag company formerly known as Coach, bought the Kate Spade brand in May 2017 to tap millennials, who are drawn to the company's quirky satchels and colourful tote bags.
The deal also turned Coach into a multi-brand fashion house, a strategy that European counterparts such as Louis Vuitton have built their businesses on.
Kate Spade New York released a statement calling the news "incredibly sad".
"Although Kate 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," the statement said.
"Kate will be dearly missed."
The New York Police Department confirmed the designer's death under her birth name.
The city's chief medical examiner's office said the cause of death was under investigation.
Spade's business representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, the Council of Fashion Designers of America called Spade "a great talent who had an immeasurable impact on American fashion and the way the world viewed American accessories".
Spade told National Public Radio last year that she first discussed starting a handbag company with Andy Spade while they ate at a Mexican restaurant in 1991.
"I said, 'Honey, you don't just start a handbag company,'" she told NPR, "and he said, 'why not, how hard can it be?'"
Fans of the brand began posting pictures of their favourite handbags on social media in reaction to Kate Spade's death.
Reuters
Topics: fashion, human-interest, design, arts-and-entertainment, united-states
First posted
Image copyright Getty Images
The rise of American fashion designer Kate Spade, who turned her name into a global brand, reads like a classic American tale of a self-made businesswoman.
She and her future husband built the accessories firm from their apartment, tapping into retirement savings to get a start.
They would later sell the company and start again.
Raised in Missouri as Kate Brosnahan, Ms Spade attended an all-girls Catholic high school and Arizona State University.
It was there that she met her future husband Andy Spade, brother of the Hollywood comedian David, working in a clothing store.
Image copyright Reuters
They moved to New York, where she worked in advertising and as a fashion editor at Mademoiselle magazine before striking out on her own.
In interviews, the businesswoman often said she was inspired to start her own company by her dislike of other handbags of the era and a desire for a more basic look.
"I thought, gosh, I mean, why can't we find something just clean and simple and modern?" she told NPR earlier this year.
To Ms Spade, who had a well-stocked purse collection before making a career out of it, clean did not have to mean boring.
Reds and shocking pinks filled out the palette of the firm's boxy nylon and leather totes, which drew the eye of a buyer from upmarket New York department store Barney's at an early trade show and quickly became a coveted status symbol among a certain preppy set.
Image copyright Getty Images
In 1999, when Neiman Marcus took a 56% stake, it paid more than $30m for the company, which eventually branched out to other accessories, including kitten heels and stationery.
Kate Spade shares a sensibility with lines like Lilly Pulitzer and Tory Burch, American companies whose female founders gave them their name.
But the designer cultivated an image distinct from European fashion houses like Valentino and Chanel.
"Fashion can't feel like a costume." she said in an interview with the Boston Globe in 1999.
She once told Vogue that the brand was "not intimidating" - although it does keep elite company, with the Duchess of Cambridge among the firm's many customers.
In 2006, the family announced they would sell their stake in their company.
In retrospect, the moment looks like the end of an era - just before online shopping, the financial crisis, private equity owners and shifting fashions would put the entire retail industry on the back foot.
Undaunted by the changes, the couple announced a new line, Frances Valentine, about a decade later.
Ms Spade, who sometimes described herself as a nervous person, acknowledged the high stakes of that decision in an interview with NPR.
"There's still a lot of pressure, trust me," she said.
