Rachel Brosnahan and David Spade Pay Tribute to Kate Spade on 1st Anniversary of Her Death

Kate Spade‘s family and loved ones are paying tribute to the fashion designer on the first anniversary of her death.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Rachel Brosnahan shared an older photo of Spade, who is her aunt, on Instagram. In the picture, she wears black slacks, a white button-down shirt and a tan sweater. Her hair is up in a big ponytail and held back by a black bandanna. She’s looking off into the distance with a big smile on her face and looks like she’s in the middle of laughing. Spade stands near a picnic table with some grass behind her.

“Missing Katy B today,” Brosnahan captioned it. Spade’s maiden name was Brosnahan.

Spade’s brother-in-law David Spade also paid homage to the late designer. The actor shared a picture of the two of them together at an event and he captioned it with a heart emoji.

Kate Spade New York, the company that she and her husband Andy Spade founded together, uploaded a series of posts about her on Instagram on Wednesday. 

One post was a quote card that read, “She leaves a sparkle wherever she goes.”

Kate Spade New York wrote, “she was smart, chic, artful, witty, timeless, charming, trailblazing, gracious and so much more: kate spade inspired millions of women to stand out in a crowd. we honor the life of our visionary founder and all the joy and beauty she brought into this world. her vision inspires us every day.”

The company announced on Wednesday that they completed a $1 million pledge and the money would be donated to a number of mental health organizations, including The Jed Foundation, Fountain House and The Didi Hirsch Foundation. They said they will match all donations made between now through June 12.

The businesswoman’s close friend Elyce Arons wrote a first-person essay about Spade in People and reminisced on their past together and their years as friends. Spade and Arons founded the company Frances Valentine together, which Brosnahan is now the face of. They became best friends at the University of Kansas and that friendship carried them from the Midwest to New York, where they achieved their dreams of creating businesses together.

“It’s difficult to talk about a loved one who’s taken their life, and hard not to be angry with my friend who has left me so heartbroken. I am constantly thinking of her family and think of her everyday,” Arons wrote.

She said, “I hope that anyone reading this who needs help will know that loved ones are there for them, I pray that they will seek that help. Most of all, I hope that people will remember Katy, the best friend that anyone could ever dream of having — the funny, intelligent, sweet, sophisticated, whimsical, gracious woman I knew.”

Spade was found dead on June 5, 2018 in her Manhattan apartment. A day after her death, Andy Spade released a statement and expressed profound grief for his late wife, who was 55.

“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,” he wrote. 

His statement continued, “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 revealed that he and his wife were “living separately, but within a few blocks of each other” when it happened. Their daughter Frances Beatrix Spade, who goes by Bea, lived with both parents and they “saw each other or spoke everyday.”

“We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority. 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,” he wrote.

The 56-year-old said his late wife “was actively seeking help for depression and anxiety over the last 5 years, seeing a doctor on a regular basis and taking medication for both depression and anxiety.”

Take a look at the gallery below to see Kate Spade’s life in pictures.

Our thoughts go out to Kate Spade’s family and loved ones today.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).