Who is Andy Spade? All about Kate Spade’s husband as new claims surface in memoir 7 years after designer’s death

Andy Spade, who is a businessman and the co founder of the eponymous fashion brand named after his wife, designer Kate Spade, has been revealed to have been working on his relationship with Kate just before her death. This lastest revelation was made by Kate Spade's best friend, Elyce Arons, in her book, "We Just Might Make It After All: Best Friendship with Kate Spade."

According to People Magazine, in June 2018, Kate Spade was found dead in her New York apartment. The cause of death was later ruled as s*icide. Just a day later, Andy Spade who shared a daughter, Frances Beatrix, with the late designer released a statement regarding her death and confirmed that the couple had been separated for the past ten months.

More about Andy Spade, as new details about his marriage to Kate Spade emerge

Andy Spade was born on 5 May 1962, and grew up in Michigan with his parents and siblings, one of whom is actor, David Spade. According to Business Insider, he later attended Arizona State University, where he met Kate and the couple later married in 1994. In a 2003 interview with CNN Money, Kate revealed that it was Andy Spade who encouraged her to launch her own handbag line, after having previously worked as a Senior Fashion Editor at Mademoiselles Magazine. She said:

"The reason I started making handbags was because of Andy's suggestion. After moving through a number of positions, I had been promoted to senior fashion editor after six years at Mademoiselle magazine. I wasn't sure the next step was one I wanted to make. Andy just said, 'You know, I think we should start something."

Kate quit her job in 1992, and began designing handbags, and launched their company in 1993. During their intereview with CNN Money, Andy Spade recalled their first trade show expirience. He said:

"What we built. At our first trade show they gave us terrible space, way in the back of the building. We moved in furniture from our apartment because we didn't like commercial displays and because it was cheaper. We didn't get enough orders to cover the cost of the show, but we came out with orders from Barneys and Charivari, two influential stores in Manhattan."

Andy Spade further added that he later quit his job in advertising in 1996 to help Kate with the growing business. He said:

"I decided to quit my job to join Kate in 1996 because we were turning into a real business, which was challenging. When you start your own company, you get to be creative, but at the same time you're responsible for running a company. Nobody tells you that. It's not just doing bags, it's getting paid for them. In advertising I was working only with creative people. In this company you're dealing with payroll, accounting, and shipping and warehouses, which I'd never dealt with and which I'd never wanted to deal with."

In 2006, the couple sold their million dollar company to the Neiman Marcus Group, and in 2016, and the couple launched Frances Valentine, a company named after their daughter. In 2018, the news of Kate Spade's tragic death shocked the fashion world. At that time, Andy Spade issued a statement to People Magazine confirming Kate's death, and acknowledged her struggles with her mental health. He said:

"Kate was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the kindest person I’ve ever known and my best friend for 35 years. My daughter and I are devastated by her loss, and can’t even begin to fathom life without her. We are deeply heartbroken and miss her already."

Andy Spade further added:

"Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives. We were in touch with her the night before and she sounded happy. There was no indication and no warning that she would do this. It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.”

Andy Spade, who had been married to Kate for twenty four years at the time of her death, revealed that although they were living separately, they remained very much involved in each other's lives while co parenting their daughter. He said:

"For the past 10 months we had been living separately, but within a few blocks of each other. Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority,”

He emphasized that there had been no legal separation or discussions of a possibile divorce. He said:

“We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce. We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how. We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break."

In her new book, We Just Might Make It After All: Best Friendship with Kate Spade, Elyce Arons, who herself is one of the co founders of the billion dollar business, started by Kate Spade, shared that despite the couple's struggles before Kate's passing, they were deeply connected and were making efforts to rebuild their relationship. In an excerpt obtained by People Magazine, Arons wrote:

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“They were trying to work things out — and they were always in each other’s lives every day. They loved each other.”

According to People Magazine, Andy Spade, who also co founded the branding studio, Partners & Spade in 2008, and the men's fashion brand, Jack Spade, later relocated to California with his daughter in light of Kate's untimely death.

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