Industry reflects on Kate Spade's legacy

Kate Spade, who founded the eponymous fashion and retail company in 1993, was found dead in her apartment yesterday, presumed to have committed suicide. Ms. Spade and her husband, Andy Spade, began selling major portions of their business off beginning in 1999, and were no longer involved in the Kate Spade New York, which currently has 140 retail locations in the U.S. plus 175 internationally. The NY Times described Ms. Spade as embodying "her own aesthetic, with her proto-1960s bouffant, nerd glasses and playful grin. Beneath that image was a business mind that understood the opportunities in building a lifestyle brand, almost before the term officially existed."