Andy Spade composed a tribute to his late wife, Kate Spade, on Tuesday in his first Instagram post since her death by apparent suicide last month.
He posted a picture of a Christmas tree adorned in lights, a reference to the designer’s birthday of Dec. 24.
“She was born Christmas Eve, 1962. She loved the Midwest, the desert, and the city,” he wrote.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl4kqt-F76v/?taken-by=andyspade
The tree, however, also held a different meaning. Andy Spade noted that after his wife died on June 5, he and their daughter stayed with friends through the “difficult time” and decorated the tree after they found it outside the house.
“This tree was standing alone beside the house so we ordered those multicolored, old fashioned lights from Amazon or Target and another dear personal friend gave me a really long extension cord and Bea and I cut a star out of the cardboard box the lights came on and wrapped it in Reynolds wrap (TM) like we do every Christmas,” he wrote.
Andy Spade’s last Instagram post was dated May 9, just under a month before his wife’s death.
Kate Spade died June 5 of an apparent suicide at the age of 55. She was found in her Manhattan apartment. Her eponymous brand, Kate Spade New York, had more than 140 stores in the U.S.
Along with her fashion empire and world renown handbag collection, the designer also had close ties to Hollywood, as her brother-in-law (Andy Spade’s brother) was actor David Spade and her niece was “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actress Rachel Brosnahan.
In the aftermath of her death, Andy Spade issued a statement that included details of Kate’s emotional health leading up to it.
“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,” he said on June 6. “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.”
Read his full statement here.