KANSAS CITY: Hundreds of mourners braved drizzling rain to attend the funeral for fashion designer Kate Spade on Thursday, many of them carrying her iconic purses as they flocked to a church in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.

Her family released a statement shortly before the funeral began, saying her father had died the night before at his home. The statement said 89-year-old Earl Brosnahan Jr. had been in failing health and was “heartbroken” after his beloved daughter’s suicide at her home in New York.

A high school classmate attending the service said Spade was “incredibly kind” and had a memorable laugh. Spade admirers, including Olivia Lott, also were part of the crowds of people hovering under large, black umbrellas outside the church, many of them wearing Spade-designed accessories.

“I just feel like her vocation was to fill the world with beautiful things,” Lott said, echoing sentiments expressed earlier this month by friends and fans who described her as vibrant and colourful , like the designs that made her famous.

The 55-year-old mother was found dead in her New York City home on June 5. Her husband and business partner, Andy Spade, said she’d had depression and anxiety for years but had been regularly seeing a doctor and taking medication.

He attended the service, along with his brother, actor-comedian David Spade, who helped other relatives enter the church under umbrellas. A funeral official followed the family carrying a large white urn as the congregation sang “The First Noel,” a nod to Kate Spade’s birthday, on Christmas Eve, and her middle name, Noel.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2018