American fashion designer and businesswoman Kate Spade was found dead in her apartment located at Park Avenue in New York on Tuesday.
It has been reported that Spade seems to have committed suicide as a note was discovered by her housekeeper a few hours after the incident took place.
Kate Spade New York has more than 140 retail shops in and around the United States and more than 175 elsewhere in the world.
She sold her namesake company in 2007.
The firm was bought by rival New York designer Coach last year in a deal worth $2.4 billion (Rs 16,167 crore).
Photograph: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for New York Academy of Art