Kate Spade New York Stores Plan To Honor Designer With Special Display

Designer Kate Spade died of suicide on Tuesday, and although she no longer owned her namesake brand, all Kate Spade New York stores plan to honor her with a touching window display.

According to a People report, the Kate Spade New York stores will remove everything from current window displays including merchandise and signage, and replace it with a poster featuring the statement that the brand released on its Instagram page following news of the designer’s death.

It reads, “Kate Spade, the visionary founder of our brand, has passed. Our thoughts are with her family at this incredibly heartbreaking time. We honor all the beauty she brought into this world.”

The message can already be seen on the Kate Spade website. All U.S. stores will feature the new tribute starting Wednesday, and international stores will also change their window displays to honor the brand’s late founder. Also, in the wake of her passing, the brand has suspended emails as well as advertising to customers on social media. Their influencer partners will also refrain from posting about the brand in the coming days.

Kate Spade died in her New York apartment and left behind her husband of 24 years, Andy Spade, as well as their 13-year-old daughter Frances Beatrix Spade, who the designer reportedly wrote a message for in her final letter.

In 2006, she and her husband sold her namesake brand to Liz Claiborne, Inc., and the brand went to Coach, Inc., now known as Tapestry, last year. In 2016, after taking some time to be with her daughter, the Spades launched a new brand called Frances Valentine even though the designer said she didn’t miss it as much as she thought she would after selling her original brand.

In 2016 she said, “I needed a break and I really wanted to raise my daughter [Frances]. People asked me, ‘Don’t you miss it?’ I really didn’t. I mean, I loved what I was doing, but I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I might.”

According to a Business Insider report, the Frances Valentine brand sold out of all 25 new arrival bags available online. Also, dozens of other accessories, purses, and shoes sold by the brand sold out following the news of the designer’s passing.

Following Kate’s death, the Spade family released a statement that reads, “We are all devastated by today’s tragedy. 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.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.