NEW YORK: Designer Kate Spade, who committed suicide in New York, suffered for years from mental illness but had refused treatment, her sister said on Wednesday.

The death of the 55-year-old star designer, whose body was found Wednesday in her Park Avenue apartment, “was not unexpected by me”, Spade’s older sister Reta Saffo told The Kansas City Star from her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves!” Saffo wrote, adding that Spade was concerned hospitalisation for treatment would hurt the light-hearted image of her eponymous brand.

“I’d flown out to Napa and NYC several times in the past 3-4 years to help her to get the treatment she needed [inpatient hospitalization],” Saffo added.

“She was always a very excitable little girl and I felt all the stress/pressure of her brand (KS) may have flipped the switch where she eventually became full-on manic depressive.”

Spade — a Missouri native who first worked as a journalist, including a stint as accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine — launched her Kate Spade fashion label in 1993 with her husband Andy and the help of outside investors. Her cheerful use of bright colors and prints proved a hit with career women.

Saffo said she had come “very” close to getting her sister into a treatment facility. Saffo, who said Spade’s husband also helped to try to get his wife into treatment, eventually stopped trying after “numerous” attempts.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2018