Kate Brosnahan Spade, the fashion designer and businesswoman, hanged herself with a scarf in an apparent suicide Tuesday at a New York City apartment, according to a New York Police Department source.
Law enforcement sources confirm a housekeeper found Kate’s body at 10:20 AM ET in her Park Avenue home. We’re told she hanged herself using a scarf tied to her bedroom door knob. She was pronounced dead on the scene. We’re also told she left a note.
Kate got her start in the ’80s working for women’s magazine “Mademoiselle” in Manhattan, when she moved in with Andy Spade — David Spade‘s brother. She and Andy met while attending Arizona State University and working at a clothing store.
Together, they launched Kate Spade Handbags in 1993, and it blossomed into a full-scale clothing and jewelry line. Kate and Andy got married in 1994.
Kate sold her company in 2007 and took some time off to raise her daughter — but got back in the game in 2016 by launching a new fashion brand called Frances Valentine … named after her daughter, who’s now 13 years old.
Kate was 55.