It broke my heart to think of her husband and daughter. It didn’t match up with the image of her I’d held for so long - effervescent, funny, the life of the party. I was shocked this week to learn of her untimely passing by suicide. She certainly wasn’t the first to turn everyday goods into small thrills, butīy golly she seemed to be having the most fun at it.

Kate Spade managed to take something we need - a receptacle for all our stuff, a pen to write down important notes, a mug to drink our coffee - and transform it into something we wanted to use. The tagline ‘live colorfully’ resonated so deeply with me as as it did so many others. The handbag brand had evolved into a full chic and cheeky lifestyle brand – scotch glasses marked “his & hers”, coffee mugs decorated with crossword puzzles and other delightfully witty goods. Years later, I encountered the Kate Spade brand while registering for my wedding. She had asked each of my friends to chip in and I was beside myself, floored by my good fortune and the generosity of my friends. Her moment of glory came with the presentation of the navy Kate Spade bag. My closest friend planned me a surprise fifteenth birthday party at the long-since-gone Hard Rock Cafe at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. It was in the original, eponymous boxy style I’d begun to see at parties and on display at Bloomingdale’s - chic, simple, stunning. My first Kate Spade piece was a gorgeous navy blue handbag I’d coveted for ages.

Suicide is an almost unbearable topic to discuss as a community, but, as Cohen encourages us below, talking about mental health as a community encourages more of us to deal with it honestly and healthily.Īs a team that honors great design, we mourn the loss of a woman whose incredible style, wit, personality and business savvy pioneered the way for so many designers in today’s modern lifestyle culture. So many of us have been struck by this week’s poignant loss. Recently, we shared this thoughtful piece by Rabbi Jaclyn Cohen on dealing with the loss of a parent through Mother’s and Father’s Day (if you missed it, read it here). Spade reportedly took her own life at home, a shocking turn of events for Spade’s friends and family, though the fashion icon reportedly struggled with depression and anxiety for quite some time. The fashion world was rocked this week by the loss of fashion designer and business icon, Kate Spade.

Kate spade mug life of the party