Kate Spade founder dead at 55

Kate Valentine, the popular designer behind the namesake Kate Spade fashion line, aged 55, was found dead in her Manhattan apartment on Tuesday morning.

Police officials said they were still investigating a cause of death, but Associated Press and TMZ reported it was an apparent suicide.

Ms Spade, who later changed her last name to Valentine, had left her mark on fashion over the past two decades, turning her name into a global brand after launching her first handbag in 1993.

Known for sleek, whimsical designs and a strong eye for shape and bright colours, she helped the brand quickly rise to global popularity. It now has more than 300 stores around the world.

The designer grew up in Missouri and studied journalism at Arizona State University. After graduating, she moved to New York and found work as a fashion editor for Mademoiselle magazine, owned by Condé Nast. In 1993, she founded a handbag company with her husband, Andy Spade, the brother of actor David Spade. 

She later told National Public Radio that she had noticed at the time that “bags were too complicated”.

“I really loved very simple kind of architectural shapes,” she said. “I would wear these very simple shapes, none of which were famous designers . . . and I thought, gosh, I mean, why can't we find something just clean and simple and modern?” 

The concept caught on with women, particularly millennials, and also caught the eye of Neiman Marcus, the upmarket department store, which bought a majority stake in 1996.

A decade later, Liz Claiborne bought the company for $124m and Ms Spade sold her remaining shares, explaining that she wanted to spend more time with her daughter, Frances, who was born in 2005.

Coach bought Kate Spade for $2.4bn in 2017, in a bid to revive its brand and reach younger shoppers.

She and her husband made a comeback in 2016 with a new shoe and handbag brand, Frances Valentine and she changed her name to Katherine Noel Frances Valentine Brosnahan Spade to pay tribute to the new chapter.

Fashion executives and celebrities expressed their fondness for the designer. Chelsea Clinton recalled receiving her first Kate Spade handbag from her grandmother as a college student. “I still have it,” she wrote on Twitter.

Additional reporting by Flora Johnston