I think there are a lot of us, particularly women, who are reeling from feelings of shock about the untimely death of Kate Spade. Maybe we’re confused because, well, we didn’t know her and many of us didn’t even wear or own a closet full of her clothes. But it’s that indescribable feeling that somehow, someone who did something for us has been ripped away. Kate Spade the brand felt like a way of living, a brand for the modern woman, a luxury for us all. And Kate Spade the woman seemed to personify that: she was effortless and polite, a real modern lady, with great taste and impeccable clothes, without feeling stuffy or old fashioned. Kate Spade made us feel like we could be ladies, too, without the constraints of patriarchal perfection. She was a breath of fresh air, and she made you believe you could be that, too.
So it was an abrupt jolt to reality today to learn that Kate Spade the woman had taken her own life. Indeed, she is like all women: her rivers ran deep. And perhaps we’re all a bit to blame for creating a world where Kate Spade the brand and Kate Spade the person seemed to meld into one. Who, after all is as simple as a hand bag they wear or the brand they’ve created? Perhaps the loss of the charming, beautiful and impossibly successful Kate Spade to her demons is a chance to wake us up to reality. Perhaps it’s part of a greater trend toward seeing not just one image of a person, but seeing the beauty of the whole person: the one who is not just as good as the things she owns or the way she dresses or her perfectly pleasant exterior; but who is also beloved for the beauty of her honesty, her authenticity and her bravery.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that any one thing is to blame, but I do know that I feel sad. Sad for the pain Kate Spade must have been in. Sad for her child, who’s lost her mother in such a devastating way. Sad for the rest of us, who lost something and someone who, as we all are, is irreplaceable.
So it was an abrupt jolt to reality today to learn that Kate Spade the woman had taken her own life. Indeed, she is like all women: her rivers ran deep. And perhaps we’re all a bit to blame for creating a world where Kate Spade the brand and Kate Spade the person seemed to meld into one. Who, after all is as simple as a hand bag they wear or the brand they’ve created? Perhaps the loss of the charming, beautiful and impossibly successful Kate Spade to her demons is a chance to wake us up to reality. Perhaps it’s part of a greater trend toward seeing not just one image of a person, but seeing the beauty of the whole person: the one who is not just as good as the things she owns or the way she dresses or her perfectly pleasant exterior; but who is also beloved for the beauty of her honesty, her authenticity and her bravery.
I don’t think it’s fair to say that any one thing is to blame, but I do know that I feel sad. Sad for the pain Kate Spade must have been in. Sad for her child, who’s lost her mother in such a devastating way. Sad for the rest of us, who lost something and someone who, as we all are, is irreplaceable.
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