Iconic designer Kate Spade hanged herself with a scarf in
the bedroom of her Upper East Side home and left a note telling her daughter
it wasn’t her fault, sources said.
A housekeeper found the body of the 55-year-old fashion
maven inside her Park Avenue apartment about 10:10 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
Spade’s husband Andy, the brother of comedian David Spade,
was home at the time. But the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Frances was at
school, sources said.
The note left by Spade, in addition to absolving her
daughter of responsibility, instructed the teen to seek answers from her
father.
Spade wrote the note — or part of it — to her only daughter,
13-year-old Frances Beatrix Spade, whom she referred to as “Bea.”
“Bea – I have always loved you. This is not your fault. Ask
Daddy,” the note read in part, according to TMZ. It is unknown how long the
note is or what else it may have said.
Spade was upset over “problems at home,” said a source. The
source did not elaborate.
Spade was a 30-year-old former magazine editor in 1993 when
she launched a line of sleek handbags that grew into a $2.4 billion global
empire.
“We are all devastated by today’s tragedy,” her family said
in a statement. “We loved Kate dearly and will miss her terribly. We would ask
that our privacy be respected as we grieve during this very difficult time.”
Spade’s shocking death left some of her devoted customers
sobbing in the streets.
“Every girl in the world knows of Kate Spade,” said Atlanta
tourist Carter Boughner, 42, tears rolling down her face after she learned the
news while walking by Spade’s apartment.
“Why would (she) do that?”
Shelley Bitt, who used to work retail for Kate Spade New
York in California before moving to the Upper East Side, said she saw the famed
designer walking down the street just a few days ago.
“It’s so sad,” said Bitt, 21. “I was just a really big fan
of her brand. I knew her by the brand. When I moved here, I definitely knew her
face.”
Spade’s official cause of death was pending the outcome of
an autopsy. But police officials said the totality of the evidence left little
doubt that Spade took her own life.
"There was a note left and the contents of the note,
physical state of the apartment and statement of the witnesses lead us to
believe it was an apparent suicide,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.
Kate Spade New York released a statement lamenting the
“incredibly sad news.”
“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,” it said. “Kate will be dearly missed.”
I can't help but wonder what her husband did that left her with no option...
Such depressing news.
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