Frances Valentine Net Worth See Bio, Family, Career and Death

Filed in Articles by on June 23, 2022

– Frances Valentine’s Net Worth –

Katherine Noel Valentine Brosnahan is professionally known as Kate Spade and Kate Valentine. She was the originator and former co-owner of the designer brand, Kate Spade, New York.

After working in the accessories section at the fashion magazine Mademoiselle, Brosnahan, and her husband, Andy Spade, identified a market for quality stylish handbags and founded Kate Spade, New York in 1993.

The handbags Spade designed and produced rapidly found popularity, owing to their sophistication and affordability, and have been described as a symbol of New York City in the 1990s.

The company expanded into other product lines. In the year 1999, Spade sold a 56-percent stake in her business to Neiman Marcus Group, and in 2006 she sold the rest of her shares.

In 2016, Spade and her associates launched a new fashion brand, Frances Valentine. On June 5, 2018, Spade was found dead in her house, her death being ruled a suicide.

Frances Valentine Early Years

Kate Spade was born on December 24, 1962, in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1985, after obtaining a degree in journalism, she went to work for Mademoiselle magazine in New York City.

 She would spend five years at Mademoiselle, finally becoming a senior fashion editor and head of accessories, before leaving in 1991 to put her creative energy toward designing her own line.

Fashion Success

Kate Spade put her knowledge and attention to accessories to work, launching her own brand of handbags in 1993 and opening a small boutique in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan soon after.

Her handbags were unique for their modern, sleek look, pops of color, and utilitarian shapes. Her husband became her partner, and, over the years, their business extended internationally.

The company, which carried fashion items beyond her signature bags, grew to comprise several retail outlets and saw its products featured in such high-end stores as Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus.

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In 1996, the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored Spade’s classic designs by offering her the “America’s New Fashion Talent in Accessories” award.

Kate Spade provided products in a range of categories, from eyewear to shoes to paper goods, in over 450 stores globally.

While they sold the business to Neiman Marcus Group in 1999, which was later sold to Fifth & Pacific (formerly Liz Claiborne) in 2006, the Spades remained active forces within the brand they built.

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In 2004, Kate Spade shared her private style and philosophies in her three books: MannersOccasions, and Style.

Two years later, Kate and her husband sold the Kate Spade brand so that Kate could dedicate more time to raising their child.

At about the same time, the couple invested in Plum TV, a small television network that broadcasts in the elite vacation spots: the Hamptons, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard.

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In the year 2016, the Spades, along with their longtime friends Elyce Arons and shoe designer Paola Venturi, launched their new fashion endeavor, Frances Valentine.

That year also fetched the introduction of a Minnie Mouse-themed line of products, its popularity moving to a new batch of Minnie purses, phone accessories, and jewelry in 2017.

Kate Spade’s Net Worth

Kate Spade Net Worth: Kate Spade had a net worth of $200 million at the time of her death in 2018.

Frances Valentine’s Personal Life

In the year 1983, Spade met her future husband, Andy, while both were students at Arizona State University, and they married in 1994.

Andy is the brother of actor and comedian David Spade. The couple received their child, Frances Beatrix Spade, in February 2005.

Awards and Achievement

In the year 1996, the CFDA awarded Spade “America’s New Fashion Talent in Accessories” for her classic designs. In 1998, the organization again honored her for “Best Accessory Designer of the Year”.

Her home collection won her three design awards in 2004, including, House Beautiful’s “Giants of Design Award for Tastemaker”, Bon Appétit‘s

In 2017, she was inducted into the Entrepreneur Hall of Fame at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

Also in 2017, she was named one of the Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.

Frances Valentine Death

On June 5, 2018, law enforcement officials publicized Spade had been found dead by a housekeeper in her Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan from an apparent suicide.

The 55-year-old reportedly hung herself by a scarf tied to a door, leaving behind a note for her daughter. “We are all devastated by today’s tragedy,” said the family in a statement to the New York Daily News.

The following day, her husband revealed that the designer had been struggling with severe depression for the past six years.

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Andy Spade also said the two had hit a bumpy point in their marriage and were living apart, though he shot down the notion that marital complications had pushed his wife over the edge.

“We were not lawfully separated, and never even discussed divorce,” he said. “We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how.”

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CSN Team.

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