Andy Spade has spoken out in great and heartwrenching detail about his estranged wife’s death.
The statement comes a day after we learned that world famous fashion designer Kate Spade committed suicide inside her Park Avenue apartment in New York City.
She was 55 years old.
“Kate was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the kindest person I’ve ever known and my best friend for 35 years,” said Andy to open his lengthy message, which continues as follows;
“My daughter and I are devastated by her loss, and can’t even begin to fathom life without her. We are deeply heartbroken and miss her already.
Andy and Kate were parents to a 13-year old girl.
And Andy is the brother of David Spade, who released his own statement on Tuesday night.
He went on to address his wife’s mental condition:
“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.
“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.”
Andy says he and Kate had been living separately for close to a year.
They continued to dine together on occasion and remained a part of each other’s lives, however, for the sake of their child.
He references her in the next part of his statement:
Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family.
Our daughter was our priority. 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.
We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break.
Spade went on to shoot down any talk to the contrary, while emphasizing that his daughter is now his only concern.
“This is the truth. Anything else that is out there right now is false. [Kate] was actively seeking help for depression and anxiety over the last 5 years, seeing a doctor on a regular basis and taking medication for both depression and anxiety. There was no substance or alcohol abuse.
There were no business problems. We loved creating our businesses together. We were co-parenting our beautiful daughter.
I have yet to see any note left behind and am appalled that a private message to my daughter has been so heartlessly shared with the media.
(According to multiple sources, Kate Spade left a suicide note that assured her child that she loved her and that her fate was not her fault.)
Concluded Andy:
My main concern is Bea and protecting her privacy as she deals with the unimaginable grief of losing her mother. Kate loved Bea so very much.
Since Kate’s passing, a multitude designers, celebrities, fashion lovers and family members have been paying tribute online via photos, statements and personal memories.
We are all devastated by today’s tragedy,” a family statement read, according to The New York Times, adding:
“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.”
Our condolences go out to the Spade family and all affected by this tragedy.