In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for New York’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the agency determined Spade’s cause of death to be hanging and the manner suicide. The declaration comes as friends and family members open up about the final months of the 55-year-old’s life.
“Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years,” Spade’s husband,Andy, said in a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday. “She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives. We were in touch with her the night before and she sounded happy,”
“There was no indication and no warning that she would do this. It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.”
Monica Schipper/WireImage
Police said a housekeeper found Spade, née Katherine Noel Brosnahan, Tuesday morning in her bedroom at her Park Avenue home in Manhattan. A police source confirmed to PEOPLE thatSpade was alone when she died.
Andy, the brother of actor and comedianDavid Spade, said he and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter Frances Beatrix were struggling to cope with the loss.
Spade’s suicide hasrattled the fashion worldwhere she made her name,largely on her namesake handbags— the foundation of an accessories business that eventually grew to billion-dollar prominence. She founded the label with Andy in 1993 and sold her ownership stake in 2006. However, in 2016, Spade returned from the decade-long fashion hiatus to launch her second act in fashion, accessories lineFrances Valentine, named after her daughter.
Andy also spoke about the couple’smarital troubles, revealing that he and Spade had beenliving separately for the past 10 months. Despite their separation, he said, the parents were determined to keep their daughter first.
RELATED VIDEO: Kate Spade’s Husband Reveals She Battled Depression, Says They’d Been Living Apart for 10 Months
And the love Spade had for her daughterwas clear to those that knew her.
“I saw her a lot with her daughter, you could tell she cared about her a lot,” a resident in Spade’s apartment building told PEOPLE. “She loved her daughter and she always looked happy.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
source: people.com
