In what year did Kate Spade die?

Kate Spade died in 2018.

She died on June 5, 2018, at her Manhattan home in New York City, aged 55. The death was ruled a suicide, and news of it prompted tributes throughout the fashion industry and beyond.

Spade had become internationally recognized for handbags and accessories that combined practical shapes with bright colors, graphic details, and relatively accessible prices. She co-founded Kate Spade New York in 1993 with Andy Spade, Elyce Arons, and Pamela Bell, helping reshape the modern accessories market.

A common mix-up is confusing the year of her death with the year she left the company. Spade and Andy Spade sold their ownership stake in the brand in 2007, while Kate later launched the Frances Valentine label. Her death occurred more than a decade after that sale, in 2018.