By: Charles Zubrowski
The Upper East Side co-op that once belonged to the late Kate Spade recently sold.
More than a year after the fashion designer’s death, her widower Andy Spade and daughter Bea have unloaded it for a reported $6.35 million. Spade committed suicide in June 2018 at the age of 55.
The apartment overlooks Park Avenue at 77th Street. It was purchased in 1999 $2.675 million.
“In September 2016, Kate showed off her art-filled home to People magazine, saying: “It’s very much like our design, it’s very much like how I dress.” Kate’s best friend and business partner, Elyce Arons, who co-founded the Kate Spade brand, is working with Andy on Kate’s last business, Frances Valentine,” reported Page Six.
“While Andy has relocated, Arons said: “We talk several times a week, and we want to make sure he has lots of time to take care of his daughter. Right now the place they need to be is together.” She says she sends Bea letters that are written to her in a journal at the store,” the Page Six story continued.
The founder and former co-owner of the designer brand Kate Spade New York worked in the accessories department at the fashion magazine Mademoiselle. She and her husband identified a market for quality stylish handbags, and founded Kate Spade New York in 1993. The handbags Spade designed and produced quickly found popularity, owing to their sophistication and affordability, and have been described as a symbol of New York City in the 1990s.
The company then expanded into other product lines. In 1999, Spade sold a 56-percent stake in her business to Neiman Marcus Group, and in 2006 she sold the rest of her shares. In 2016, Spade and her partners launched a new fashion brand, Frances Valentine.
Spade was born Katherine Noel Brosnahan in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of June (Mullen) and Earl Francis Brosnahan, who owned a road-construction company, according to Wikipedia. “She was of mostly Irish descent. After graduating from St. Teresa’s Academy, an all-girl Catholic high school, Spade attended the University of Kansas. She transferred to Arizona State University, where she joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and graduated with a journalism degree in 1985.”
“Kate Spade, the trailblazing Midwesterner who launched her brand with accessible yet luxurious nylon handbags in 1993, left the company in 2007, and died tragically last June,” reported harpersbazaar.com. “At the spring show, a touching note placed on each guest’s seat paid tribute to her memory. “She left a little sparkle everywhere she went,” it read. The catwalk was dusted with glitter, a nod to Spade’s enduring shimmer, which was threaded throughout Glass’s collection. “My starting point was thinking about the brand’s core DNA,” says Glass. “I felt I’d honored her because she was the one who inspired me.”
