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Kate Spade’s husband says she battled demons but death was complete shock

Posted at 8:04 PM, Jun 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-06-06 20:04:35-04

The husband of fashion designer Kate Spade, who apparently took her own life Tuesday, says his wife was getting help for anxiety and depression.

Kate Spade was seeing doctors and taking medicine for her disease, Andy Spade said in a statement released Wednesday.

Andy Spade said he had conversed with his wife the night before she was found dead in her Manhattan apartment and she “sounded happy.”

He said her death was a “complete shock.”

Kate Spade had anxiety and depression for years, he said. For the past five years she had been going to doctors and taking medicine for her disease, he wrote.

He said they had been living apart but he was in touch — either visiting with her or speaking with her — every day.

“There was no indication and no warning that she would do this,” he said. “It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.”

NEW YORK – JULY 27: Andy Spade, CEO and Creative Director of Kate Spade, and designer Kate Spade attend OPEN from American Express’ “Making a Name for Yourself” at Nokia Theater July 27, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Peyton/Getty Images For American Express)

Andy Spade said he and his wife had decided to take a break and had lived in separate residences for 10 months. But they were committed to co-parenting their daughter, so they often ate meals together and vacationed as a family, he said.

“We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how,” he said. “We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break.”

Kate Spade had no alcohol, business or substance abuse problems, he said.

Andy Spade called his wife the kindest person he knew and said he cannot fathom life without her.

Kate Spade, who created an iconic, accessible handbag line that bridged Main Street and high-end fashion, took her own life, according to New York Police Department sources. Police responded to her apartment at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday after Spade was found by her housekeeper, NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said.

A suicide note was found at the scene, he said. Spade, 55, addressed her daughter in the note, according to two NYPD sources. Spade’s husband also was referenced in the note, according to one of the sources.

Andy Spade said he was appalled that “a private message to my daughter” had been shared with the media.