Law enforcement officials have informed that New York fashion designer Kate Spade has been found dead in her apartment in an apparent suicide. The designer was found hanging by housekeeping staff inside her Park Avenue apartment at about 10:20 a.m. (14:20 GMT)
The New York Police Department confirmed her death under her birth name, Katherine Noel Brosnahan.
Twitter users immediately reacted to the tragic news.
Her company, Kate Spade New York, has over 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the US and more than 175 shops internationally.
Spade was an accessories editor at the now-closed Mademoiselle magazine before starting her namesake design company, Kate Spade New York, in 1993. It began by purchasing handbags before expanding to include clothing, jewelry, bedding, legwear and perfumes. She sold the brand in 2006.