Grieving deeply, Kate Spade's older sister told The Star on Tuesday that her famous designer sister suffered debilitating mental illness for the last three or four years and was self-medicating with alcohol. 
 
 Spade's apparent suicide on Tuesday, at age 55 inside the bedroom of her New York Park Avenue apartment, "was not unexpected by me," Reta Saffo, Spade's older sister by two years, told The Star by email from her house in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
 
 Family members struggled mightily to help Spade but to little avail, she said. "Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves!" she wrote. Spade seemed concerned how hospitalization might harm the image of the "happy-go-lucky" Kate Spade brand, she said. 
 
 She saw how her sister seemed fixated on Robin Williams on the day, in August 2014, that he committed suicide by hanging. 
 
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 "I think there was a plan even as far back as then," Saffo said. 
 
 In November 2001, Reta Brosnahan Saffo, Kate Spade's sister, was a parent volunteer adding some holiday color to Pembroke Hill School on State Line Road. She now lives in New Mexico. Keith Myers kmyers@kcstar.com 
 
 Saffo emailed The Star shortly after it posted an online story about Spade's death. Spade was born and raised Katherine Brosnahan in Kansas City, graduating from St. Teresa's Academy and then attending the University of Kansas before transferring to Arizona State University. Saffo contacted The Star to say that the story had misspelled Spade's childhood nickname, Katy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 The Star made the correction and asked Saffo if she would speak by phone about her sister or if there was anything else about her that she wanted reflected. Saffo responded that she was not willing to take a call and had taken a sedative. She noted her husband is a medical doctor. 
 
 She continued: "I will say this was not unexpected by me. 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). 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. 
 
 SHARE COPY LINK Kate Spade, a fashion designer known for her sleek handbags, was found hanged in the bedroom of her Park Avenue apartment in an apparent suicide, police confirmed at a press conference Tuesday. 
 
 "I'd come so VERY close to getting her to go in for treatment (to the same place Catherine Zeta-Jones went for her successful bipolar treatment program). I'd spoken with them on the phone (not telling them exactly who the patient would be). They agreed to fly in and talk with her and take her with them to the treatment center. 
 
 "She was all set to go — but then chickened out by morning. I even said I (would) go with her and be a 'patient' too (she liked that idea) I said we could talk about it all — our childhood, etc. That I could help her fill in any blanks she might have. 
 
 "That seemed to make her more comfortable, and we'd get sooo close to packing her bags, but — in the end, the 'image' of her brand (happy-go-lucky Kate Spade) was more important for her to keep up. She was definitely worried about what people would say if they found out." 
 
 Spade's husband and business partner, Andy Spade, assisted in trying to coax her into treatment, making plans on how it would work and who would take care of their daughter, Frances Beatrix, known as Bea, Saffo said. "Nothing ever came of it." 
 
 "After numerous attempts, I finally let go," Saffo wrote. "Sometimes you simply cannot SAVE people from themselves! One of the last things she said to me was, 'Reta, I know you hate funerals and don't attend them, but for me would you PLEASE come to MINE, at least. Please!' I know she perhaps had a plan, but she insisted she did not." 
 
 Saffo said her sister was at a hotel in Santa Fe when she saw the television news report of Robin Williams' death. 
 
 "We were freaked out/saddened," Saffo said, "but she kept watching it and watching it over and over. I think the plan was already in motion even as far back as then." 
 
 Saffo ended her email about her sister: "She was a dear little person. So dear — so kind, so funny. I'll miss our 6-7-hr-long phone conversations between NY and NM. 
 
 "I'm off to bed for a good cry." 
 
 To get help 
 
 Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How Kate Spade shaped the catwalk - and high street 
 
 The Council of Fashion Designers of America has paid tribute to Kate Spade, who died on Tuesday, calling her "a great talent who had an immeasurable impact on American fashion". 
 
 Spade, a handbag and fashion designer, was found dead in her New York home. 
 
 Police said they were investigating her death, at 55, as an apparent suicide. 
 
 Spade's family said in a statement that they were "devastated by today's tragedy" and would "miss her terribly". They asked for privacy. 
 
 The designer is survived by her husband, Andy Spade, and their teenage daughter, Frances Beatrix. 
 
 Spade, a former editor of fashion magazine Mademoiselle, created a fashion sensation in the 1990s with her line of handbags, and built an accessories empire that grew to hundreds of shops internationally. 
 
 "Kate Spade had an enviable gift for understanding exactly what women the world over wanted to carry," Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, said in a statement. 
 
 What were the circumstances of her death? 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Reporters gathered outside Kate Spade's apartment as news of her death emerged 
 
 Police said the designer's housekeeper found her unresponsive on Tuesday at her Park Avenue apartment in Manhattan. 
 
 The New York police department chief of detectives, Dermot Shea, said a note had been found at the scene but he declined to reveal its contents. He said the evidence at her home pointed to "a tragic suicide". 
 
 The New York Police Department confirmed Spade's death under her birth name, Katherine Noel Brosnahan. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What is Kate Spade's legacy? 
 
 How did Spade become a household name? 
 
 Spade founded the Kate Spade Handbags brand in 1993 with her partner Andy, whom she had met while studying journalism at Arizona State University, and another friend, Elyce Arons. 
 
 The brand opened its first store in New York in 1996, with a stated aim of designing the perfect handbag. Its logo was the spades playing card symbol, and its bright and colourful patterned designs became a hallmark of its products. 
 
 She married Andy Spade in 1994 and they had one daughter. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters 
 
 Spade sold her namesake brand in 2007 and it was bought last year by New York rival designer Coach in a deal worth $2.4bn (£1.8bn). She and her husband then set up another design venture, Frances Valentine, named after their daughter. 
 
 Spade legally changed her name to Kate Valentine (Valentine was her grandfather's middle name) in 2016 to "separate the two worlds", she said. 
 
 More on Kate Spade 
 
 Quirky fun and country club 
 
 By Natalie Sherman, BBC News business reporter, New York 
 
 In the 25 years since Kate Spade's founding, the name has become a byword for a certain preppy style. 
 
 The former fashion editor told the New York Times she was looking for function, sophistication and "some style" when she launched her line of handbags in 1993, uninspired by other purses of the era. 
 
 Her look - bright colours and clear lines - quickly gained traction, appearing on the shelves of upmarket New York department stores like Barney's. 
 
 In 1999, Neiman Marcus took a majority stake, sealing the firm's ascendance in the fashion world and as a brand that embodied quirky fun, without straying too far from the country club. 
 
 Read more from Natalie 
 
 Tributes pour in 
 
 Celebrities and public figures from the world of fashion and beyond paid tribute to Spade and her work. 
 
 Actress Reese Witherspoon said the designer was a "wonderful, talented woman who will be dearly missed". 
 
 Skip Twitter post by @kathygriffin I decided to wear head-to-toe Kate Spade to an event tonight to honor her contributions to fashion and women in business. I always admired that she was self-made and was so sad to hear the news of her passing. Rest easy, Kate..and thank you for making so many women feel wonderful pic.twitter.com/fuRCrv8Ozx — Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) June 6, 2018 Report 
 
 Where to get help 
 
 From Canada or US: If you're in an emergency, please call 911 
 
 You can contact the US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 
 
 Young people in need of help can call Kids Help Phone on 1-800-668-6868 
 
 If you're in the US, you can contact the Crisis Test Line by texting HOME to 741741 
 
 If you are in the UK, you can call the Samaritans on 116123 
 
 For support and more information on emotional distress, click here. ||||| I decided to wear head-to-toe Kate Spade to an event tonight to honor her contributions to fashion and women in business. I always admired that she was self-made and was so sad to hear the news of her passing. Rest easy, Kate..and thank you for making so many women feel wonderfulpic.twitter.com/fuRCrv8Ozx
– The apparent suicide of fashion designer Kate Spade is a tragedy, but not a huge surprise to older sister Reta Saffo. She tells the Kansas City Star that Spade had been struggling with mental illness for years and the stress and pressure of her famous brand may have "flipped the switch where she eventually became full-on manic depressive." The death, she says, "was not unexpected by me." Spade was found hanged in her New York City apartment on Tuesday. Saffo says that in 2014, her sister was transfixed by news of Robin Williams' suicide by hanging . "She kept watching it and watching it over and over," Saffo says. "I think the plan was already in motion even as far back as then." Spade, whose husband, Andy Spade, was reportedly home at the time of her death, left a note telling 13-year-old daughter Frances it wasn't her fault. More: Meanwhile, Spade's family is "disgusted and saddened that at this time of great sorrow, Kate’s sister who has been estranged from the entire family for more than 10 years would choose to surface with unsubstantiated comments," a family source tells People. "Her statements paint a picture of someone who didn’t know her at all." Saffo, whose husband is a medical doctor, says she tried for years to get her sister the help she needed, but Spade kept backing out of plans to get treatment. "She was definitely worried about what people would say if they found out," says Saffo. Kathy Griffin was among many celebrities paying tribute to Spade, the BBC reports. "I decided to wear head-to-toe Kate Spade to an event tonight to honor her contributions to fashion and women in business," she tweeted. "Rest easy, Kate..and thank you for making so many women feel wonderful." The US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 1-800-273-8255.