Katherine Brosnahan, more famously known as Kate Spade or Kate Valentine, passed away on June 5th from an apparent suicide at the age of 55. Spade was found dead in her Park Avenue apartment on Tuesday around 10:20 a.m. by the house-keeping staff. Police found her hanging by a scarf attached to a doorknob, along with a suicide note.
In a statement to the New York Times, her husband, Andy Spade, commented,
“Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives…For the past 10 months we had been living separately, but within a few blocks of each other…We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce. We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how.”
The husband and their daughter, referred to as Bea, are grieving over their recent loss. Despite the complications that the couple had been going through, Spade expressed how they supported each other. The couple began Kate Spade New York back in 1993 with six bag designs which would soon create an empire. It was in 2006 when Spade decided to sell her fashion company to Neiman Marcus Group, known as Liz Claiborne, for $125 million. It wasn’t until a few years ago that the couple started a new brand— Frances Valentine.
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend and founder, Kate Valentine Spade, who will remain in our hearts forever. pic.twitter.com/gWE7mnT2XH
— Frances Valentine (@FValentineNY) June 6, 2018
FRANCES VALENTINE’S MOST RECENT AD CAMPAIGN STIRS CONSPIRACY THEORIES.
This company sells bags and accessories, somewhat like Kate Spade just with a different style. Their most recent ad campaign that released earlier in the year is stirring questions about Kate Spade’s death. “Where is Kate?” launched in 2018, with an ad video that features Andy Spade looking for Kate.
In the video, Andy Spade plays a detective who tries to find Kate Spade, played by an actress. Kate is dressed in her iconic look and runs from the home, then to the pool, and finally to the beach. The intention was to indirectly show that Kate Spade was the designer behind the company.
Since Spade’s death, Frances Valentine deleted the latest campaign. People are now talking about the parallel between the video and Kate Spade’s death. Some find this to be too eerie and suspicious— that the last major campaign ad before Kate Spade’s death involved her disappearance from the world.
Of course, the idea of the ad campaign relating to her death is all speculation and conspiracy talk. The Spade 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.”
