Kate Spade's Husband: Who Is Andy Spade?

Update, June 6, 2018, 8:27 a.m.: This story has been updated to reflect new information about Kate and Andy Spade's marriage, as well as comment from David Spade.

Kate Spade, the designer behind the eponymous line of women’s handbags and accessories, has died. The 55-year-old reportedly committed suicide.

According to TMZ, Spade was found dead in her New York City apartment at 10:20 a.m. Tuesday morning, and that she had hanged herself. Page Six reports she was found by a housekeeper and had ended her life by hanging herself with a scarf on a doorknob inside of the Upper East Side home.

Spade is survived by a daughter, Frances Beatrix Spade, with husband Andy Spade, whom she married in 1994.

Andy, with whom Kate launched her world famous brand, has not released a statement about his wife’s death. He is the brother of actor and comedian David Spade, who acknowledged news of his sister-in-law's passing by sharing a photo on social media and encouraging others to "hang on."

Kate and Andy Spade met while attending Arizona State University and moved to New York City together in the 1980s. Before launching the brand in 1993, Kate worked as an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine. Together, the couple launched the company with Kate’s vision of designing the “perfect handbag.”

According to the company’s website, the line debuted with six silhouettes, combining “sleek, utilitarian shapes” and “colorful palettes.”

After the success found through the handbag line, which still produces new designs today, the company later expanded to include clothing, jewelry, shoes, stationery, eyewear, fragrance, home décor and gifts among its offerings.

In an interview with CNN Money in 2003, Andy revealed he hadn’t left his original job at an ad agency to join the company until 1996, after the company began to prove successful, and even admitted he had withdrawn money from his 401(k) account in order to help the business as it was starting out.

The faith the couple had in the business and the effort they jointly put in later paid off, as they became a successful brand that has since become a household name in the women’s accessories and apparel markets.

The company was initially sold in 2007 to Liz Claiborne, Inc. before it was acquired by Coach in 2017.

After selling the company initially and taking time off to focus on raising their daughter, Kate later returned to design by launching a new brand, Frances Valentine, named after her daughter with Andy, in 2016.

However, despite their success in business, new reports allege that the pair was struggling personally, and their marital problems may have even been a contributing factor in Kate's death.

Sources told People Magazine that the pair were "having relationship problems" before Kate's death and that Andy had even been shopping for a new apartment in Manhattan.

Page Six reports that the note Kate left at the scene of her death was addressed only to her daughter, and that is suggested her husband would know why she had taken her own life.

"This has nothing to do with you," sources told the website the note read. "Don't feel Guilty. Ask your dad."