--- title: The Internet Is Mourning the Death of Designer Kate Spade description: The iconic fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead Tuesday at the age of 55, to the shock of her many fans. canonical: https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-05T16:56:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:14.261Z og:title: The Internet Is Mourning the Death of Designer Kate Spade og:description: The fashion designer was found dead on Tuesday at age 55 og:url: https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48a9089d3becd287/6989325422fb852754e25d33/kate-spade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Build Series Presents Kate Spade and Andy Spade Discussing Their Latest Project Frances Valentine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is Mourning the Death of Designer Kate Spade twitter:description: The fashion designer was found dead on Tuesday at age 55 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48a9089d3becd287/6989325422fb852754e25d33/kate-spade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Mourns the Death of Iconic Fashion Designer Kate Spade > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=32edd16c-eb14-4f06-9a65-89fe4e4e9642&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 5, 2018 4:56 PM UTC  Designer Kate Spade attends AOL Build Series to discuss her latest project Frances Valentine at Build Studio on April 28, 2017 in New York City. Designer Kate Spade attends AOL Build Series to discuss her latest project Frances Valentine at Build Studio on April 28, 2017 in New York City. Andrew Toth – FilmMagic  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Jun 5, 2018 4:56 PM UTC On Tuesday morning, news broke that fashion [designer Kate Spade](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2015519%5F2015510%5F2015474,00.html) had been found dead in her New York home in an apparent suicide, according to the Associated Press. She was 55. Shocked fans of [her work](http://time.com/money/4554599/kate-spade-sales-profit-q3/) — which included an empire known for stylish and functional handbags and accessories and tailored clothes with a playful spin — took to the internet to share their memories of how her designs had shaped them and their understanding of style. Originally from Missouri, Spade started work at Manhattan’s _Mademoiselle_ magazine [in the 1980s](https://www.southernliving.com/fashion-beauty/southern-fashion/who-is-kate-spade) before leaving to pursue the [development](https://cfda.com/members/profile/kate-spade) of her handbag line along with her husband Andy Spade. She was named America’s New Fashion Talent in Accessories [in 1996](http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/home/design/features/4793/) and the Best Accessory Designer of the Year [in 1998](http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/home/design/features/4793/) by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Spade left her namesake brand [back in 2006](https://people.com/style/kate-spade-dead-suicide/?utm%5Fmedium=social&xid=socialflow%5Ftwitter%5Fpeoplemag&utm%5Fcampaign=peoplemagazine&utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true&%5F%5Ftwitter%5Fimpression=true); it was later purchased for [$2.4 billion](http://fortune.com/2017/05/08/coach-kate-spade/). In the last few years, Spade launched a new accessories brand, [Frances Valentine.](https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-is-kate-spade-not-kate-spade-when-shes-frances-valentine-1471971817) > [](https://twitter.com/AP/status/1004032330632032256) > [](https://twitter.com/StephLauren/status/1004033332454346753) > [](https://twitter.com/ReaganStout/status/1004034699709186048) > [](https://twitter.com/RachelLeishman/status/1004036187307196416) > [](https://twitter.com/mcstrollo/status/1004034845465407488) > [](https://twitter.com/NaughtyNiceRob/status/1004034746886782983) > [](https://twitter.com/sarahchaney/status/1004034930030940160) > [](https://twitter.com/beccathelevy/status/1004034295206481920) > [](https://twitter.com/JulieDiCaro/status/1004034176809500672) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet Mourns the Death of Iconic Fashion Designer Kate Spade","datePublished":"2018-06-05T16:56:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:14.261Z","description":"Kate Spade was 55","url":"https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","fashion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48a9089d3becd287/6989325422fb852754e25d33/kate-spade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48a9089d3becd287/6989325422fb852754e25d33/kate-spade.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Build Series Presents Kate Spade and Andy Spade Discussing Their Latest Project Frances Valentine","caption":"Build Series Presents Kate Spade and Andy Spade Discussing Their Latest Project Frances Valentine","creditText":"Andrew Toth – FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5301856/kate-spade-death-reactions/","name":"The Internet Mourns the Death of Iconic Fashion Designer Kate Spade"}}]}] ```