What Was Kate Spade's Net Worth?
Legendary designer Kate Spade was found dead of an apparent suicide in her New York City apartment on Tuesday, June 5. Now, countless celebrities, designers, and fashion world insiders are remembering the icon for her contributions to the world of fashion. As the founder and namesake of the brand Kate Spade New York, Kate's extraordinary and massively successful career began over two decades ago.
Before she was Kate Spade, she was Kate Brosnahan, born on December 24, 1962 in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Arizona State University in 1985 with a degree in journalism, with dreams of pursuing a magazine career. After college she moved to New York and did just that, working her way up to become a senior fashion editor in charge of accessories at Mademoiselle magazine.
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But, according to an interview with the Boston Globe, Kate was unimpressed with the handbag options she was seeing come through the magazine's fashion closet. "I was looking for something that could be less serious. More personal," she said. "I also wanted timelessness."
So she decided to launch her own handbag line with her then-boyfriend Andy Spade in 1993, using the $35,000 Andy had in his savings account.
The idea was to create bags inspired by her own mother's collection. "She had clutches, oranges, pinks, chocolates, huge pearl buttons," Kate told Time Magazine in 2004. Kate also wanted her purses to be functional and practical.
Enter Kate Spade's iconic "Sam" bag, a boxy, black nylon handbag. It was simple - something that went with everything from jeans to dresses. Impressed by the style, Barneys and Fred Segal were the first department stores to place orders for the designs, according to Racked.
The business quickly took off, and according to Forbes, by 1995, Kate Spade & Co. was worth $1.5 million and had its own stand-alone store in New York City.
After three years, the Spades opened more stores, and decided to expand beyond handbags. By 1999, they launched their men's line, Jack Spade, and Neiman Marcus Group had purchased 56% of the Kate Spade brand for $33.6 million.
By 2006, the Spades, along with their other business partners, sold the remaining 44% of Kate Spade New York to Neiman Marcus. It's been reported that Kate wanted to step away from designing to focus on her daughter Frances Beatrix, who was born in February 2005. Forbes reports that Kate and Andy made roughly $46.5 million from that deal.
That same year, Neiman Marcus sold Kate Spade to Liz Claiborne for about $124 million, but because the Spades had already sold their shares, they did not see any of that money. Liz Claiborne eventually sold the brand to Coach for $2.4 billion in 2017.
In 2016, Kate and Andy announced they were developing another shoe and handbag line, Frances Valentine, named after their daughter and some of Kate's family members. Kate even legally changed her name to Kate Valentine Spade. "Frances is a longtime family name on my dad’s side," Kate said in a November 2015 WWD interview. "My grandfather, father, brother and my daughter’s name is Frances. In fact, Kate legally changed her name to Kate Valentine Spade.
According to The Richest, as of 2018, Kate's net worth was $150 million. She is survived by her husband and 13-year-old daughter.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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