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Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Repost: Fashion Icon Kate Spade Found Dead in Apartment

Image courtesy of www.nytimes.com

Source: www.nytimes.com

The American designer Kate Spade was found dead on Tuesday, according to police officials.

The police said that Ms. Spade, 55, was discovered unresponsive at a Park Avenue apartment, where she had hanged herself. She had left a note, but the official did not comment on what it said. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:26 a.m.

A housekeeper found Ms. Spade in her bedroom hanging from a red scarf tied to a doorknob, the police said. She was unconscious and the housekeeper called 911.

Ms. Spade’s husband was at the scene. A police spokesman did not know the whereabouts of Ms. Spade’s daughter.

Born Kate Brosnahan in Kansas City, Mo., in December 1962, Ms. Spade was one of the first of a powerful wave of female American contemporary designers in the 1990s.

She built a brand on the appeal of clothes and accessories that made women smile, her cheerful lack of restraint and bright prints striking a chord with consumers. She herself was the embodiment of her aesthetic, with her proto-1960s bouffant, nerd glasses and kooky grin, which masked a business mind that saw the opportunities in becoming a lifestyle brand, almost before the term officially existed.

Ms. Spade, who had been the accessories editor of Mademoiselle magazine, founded Kate Spade with her husband-to-be, Andy and a friend, Elyce Arons, in 1993. Frustrated with the handbags of the era, which she found to be over-accessorized, she had wanted “a functional bag that was sophisticated and had some style,” she told The New York Times in 1999.

She did not know what to call the company at first and decided to make it a combination of the names of the co-founders. After the first show, she realized that the bags needed a little something extra to catch people’s eyes. She took the label, which originally had been on the inside of the bag, and sewed it to the outside. With that gesture, she created a brand identity and her empire.

Within a few years, she had opened a SoHo shop and was collecting industry awards, her name a shorthand for the cute, clever bags that were an instant hit with career women 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.

In 1999, the Spades sold the business to Neiman Marcus Group, and the company changed hands several times after that — in 2006, Neiman Marcus Group sold it to Liz Claiborne, Inc., which eventually shed its other holdings to become the publicly-traded Kate Spade & Company, itself acquired in 2017 by Coach, Inc. (After the Kate Spade acquisition, Coach, Inc. became the holding company Tapestry, which also owns Coach and Stuart Weitzman.)

By then, the Spades had been gone a decade, having left in 2007 to devote themselves to other projects. Ms. Spade dedicated herself to her family and to philanthropy, and in 2016, together with her husband, Ms. Arons, and Paola Venturi, a Kate Spade alum, launched a new venture, an accessories label called Frances Valentine. Ms. Spade was so committed to the project that she told interviewers she had changed her surname from Spade to Valentine.

51 comments:

  1. Oh this is sad. Condolence to her family :(

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  2. Something fishy bout the cause of death. RIP Ms. Spade. Sad naman

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  3. Omg. Daming nadedepress sa generation na toh.

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    1. Because of social media. People dont really talk and listen to each other anymore. Parang advertisement nalang ang lahat.

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    2. MARAMI DIN NUN. LESS LANG ANG EXPOSURE.

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  4. Proof that money can't buy happiness. Kaya dapat hindi ginagawang pang oa lang ang depression. Kaya marami ang hindi sumeseryoso sa depression. It's a serious mental illness. I've experienced this when my parents left me when I was 18. and til now may mga episodes ako. May she rest in peace cos she didn't experience to live in peace

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    1. wow! friends kayo?

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    2. 2:10 your comment was uncalled for. What an insensitive human being you are, if you consider yourself that.

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    3. im pretty sure she had many happy times

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    4. Anon 2:10AM, your sarcasm is uncalled for. No, I am not Anon 1:33AM.

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    5. Grabe ka naman 2:10, no empathy at all. Hoping for less lonely days for you, 1:33. Depression is indeed a lifelong struggle.

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    6. 210 you’re so mean and ignorant

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    7. 4:41 Yes, people with depression can also have happy moments. But the problem lies when someone spirals into a suicide at their worst. Depression is a state of mind, and a condition that makes living quite hard physically, psychologically, and emotionally. You don’t just turn depressed because happy moments don’t happen as often.

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    8. I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer-Jim Carrey on his depression.

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    9. HOW INSENSITIVE OF YOU TO SAY "SHE DIDN'T EXPERIENCE TO LIVE IN PEACE" WHEN YOU YOURSELF WERE IN HER SITUATION. CAN WE PLEASE CHOOSE OUR WORDS CAREFULLY?

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  5. Oh no.. 😫😔😦

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  6. So sad naman :'(

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  7. Why oh Why? Was she severely depressed?
    RIP Kate Spade.

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    1. If I am to guess, I think she missed her old business but found out it is not that easy anymore to enter the field.

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  8. ito n nmn ang mga pinoy na feeling affected. TIGILAN NA PLEASE

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    1. Yes may mga pinoy na affected specially if they own several of her pieces and wonder how beneath all her quirky design lies a depressed mind (if she indeed died of suicide). Sympathy is universal, my dear.

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    2. Hindi naman ako feeking affected. Nasorpresa lang siempre sikat.

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    3. Sure kung ikaw ang nawala, wala ding affected sa pagkawala mo

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    4. Empathy tawag dun.

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    5. excuse me tinatangkilik ko yung brand ni Kate Spade.Wag mema!

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    6. 2:03 what are our emotions for if we remain unaffected? You are heartless if you think suicide is not a serious matter. You embody the kasabihan: “Hate is not the opposite of love; it’s indifference.”

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    7. im sure di mo lang afford yung brand 2:03.

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    8. Hate is not the opposite of love, it’s apathy -

      Leo Buscaglia

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    9. @2:03, you're exactly one of the reasons why people can be depressed. You belittle feelings and sound very apathetic.

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    10. 2:03, tawag dun empathetic. I guess it’s not in your vocabulary.
      Ako nalungkot since Kate Spade is one of my fave brands. I love the quirky designs they have not only for bags but for apparel & accessories too. Playful yet it does not come off as cheap.

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    11. Feeling sad & shocked talaga especially if you're using Kate Spade. Even my husband texted me about this breaking news coz he knew I use the brand maski pa it's owned by Coach now.

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  9. Something's not right. Hope they investigate. In any case, hope she rest in peace.

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    1. i really hope they investigate well.

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  10. 2:03 nakikisimpatya lang affected na? Di ba pwede nakikiramay lang?

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  11. Why, oh why, so many questions...

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  12. Still in her mid 50s ,wealthy,famous with a daughter and hubby,what could be reason for her to take her own life,the case is something mysterious

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    Replies
    1. You never know what’s really going on in someone’s life.

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    2. depression is a serious mental illness, they look fine in front of everybody but deep inside they are hurting. so sad for her

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  13. omg so sad. why are all these famous people opting out of life all of a sudden.:(

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    1. That’s why mental health is a very grave concern and should not be stigmatised. It can affect any human from all walks of life.

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  14. kawawa naman si Miss Spade. Such a fashion icon.

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  15. AlwAys wanted to buy a Kate Spade bag but too pricey for me. RIP

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    1. If you know someone in the US that can buy a Kate Spade from an outlet store, it's so much cheaper than buying it at a department store. On a side note, I am really sad for Ms. Spade.

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    2. Kahit hindi outlet, mura na din if you can buy one on sale. They have regular sale naman. Just subscribe to their email marketing so you know when it happens.

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  16. I have 1 Kate Spade bag and 1 Kate Spade wallet and until now I am using them. This news is so sad. May she rest in peace!

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  17. RIP Ms Spade....... Sa buhay talaga kelangan andun lagi si God para kahit anong problema or struggles ang maranasan kapit lang wag susuko.

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    Replies
    1. True. Bible has all the answers. i‘ve been slapped so hard in life that i really crawled getting up not just once but sev times but reading Bible gives me wisdom and hope to move forward.

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  18. Just because you own a Kate Spade bag, does not mean you have a right to say RIP. Pwede ba, the woman had a serious health condition. I think she would have died for more serious reasons than her bags. Sincerity naman.

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  19. Rip. masama ba makiramay. C'mon people.

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