L’ Wren Scott, the glamorous fashion designer and longtime lover of Mick Jagger, was nearly $6 million in debt when she hanged herself Monday in her ritzy Manhattan apartment. 
 
 Scott’s business had been taking on water for some time, and last month she suddenly pulled out of London’s Fashion Week show, blaming “production reasons,” records indicated. 
 
 It turned out Scott, 49 — whose designs have been worn by everyone from Oscar winners Angelina Jolie and Sandra Bullock to First Lady Michelle Obama — didn’t have the dough to pay her staffers or suppliers. 
 
 — Marc Jacobs Intl (@MarcJacobsIntl) March 17, 2014 
 
 While she appeared to be a runway success, Scott’s company, LS Fashion Limited, was $2.1 million in the red in 2009, according to financial records in the United Kingdom, where she sometimes lived with Jagger and where her company was incorporated. 
 
 L'Wren Scott, fashion designer and model, was found dead Monday in Manhattan, authorities said. She was found hanged in her apartment. (CARL COURT/Getty Images ) 
 
 By 2010, the company was $3.06 million in debt — and by 2012, it was $5.89 million in the hole, records show. 
 
 Scott could have turned for help to Jagger — the Rolling Stones singer’s net worth is estimated at more than $305 million. It’s not known if she did. But friends said Scott was the kind of person who hated asking for help. 
 
 “Everyone thought she had a perfect life, but when you would chat to her it was clear her life was far from it,” a close British friend of Scott’s told the Daily News. “She told me, ‘I think I worry too much.’” 
 
 “She had a high-profile business with lots of buzz and lots of press but you didn’t always see the money flowing in.” 
 
 Mick Jagger and L'Wren Scott at the launch celebration of the Banana Republic L'Wren Scott Collection in November 2013. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Banana Republic) 
 
 — Bianca Jagger (@BiancaJagger) March 17, 2014 
 
 Scott tried to stop the bleeding in the last year, removing the company’s director and then replacing him months later with her big brother, Randall Bambrough. It’s unclear if he was able to turn the tide at all — he’s only been on the job for three months, records show. 
 
 Jagger, 70, who began dating Scott in 2001 and is on tour in Australia with the Stones, appeared ashen-faced when he abruptly left a restaurant after getting the horrible news. 
 
 Hours earlier, the ageless rock icon had tweeted a happy photo of himself at the beach. The Stones announced via their website that a concert set for Wednesday was cancelled. No indication yet on what will happen regarding the rest of the tour. They weren't set to play another gig until March 25. 
 
 The medical examiner's van inside the garage at the apartment of L'Wren Scott. (Marcus Santos/New York Daily News) 
 
 Jagger is “completely shocked and devastated by the news,” he said in a statement. 
 
 He and Scott had been seen together as recently as last week. 
 
 The rocker’s rep denied reports the two had recently separated. “This is a complete and utter fabrication and a result of ill-informed gossip at this tragic time for Mick ... It is absurd and not true,” said spokesman Bernard Doherty. 
 
 On Monday, Scott texted her assistant, Brittany Penebre, at 8:30 a.m. and told her to come by her $5.6 million Chelsea apartment. Records show Scott owned the pad outright after paying off the $1.25 million mortgage last year. 
 
 The swanky Chelsea apartment building where L'Wren Scott lived. (Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News ) 
 
 Sometime between that text and 10 a.m., when Penebre let herself in with her own key and called 911, the 6-foot-3-inch former model knelt down and used a scarf to hang herself from an L-shaped doorknob, police sources said. 
 
 “You lean away from the door applying pressure till you pass out,” one source said, explaining the method. “After that, gravity takes over.” 
 
 Scott, who was fully clothed and did not leave a note, was beyond saving by the time police and paramedics arrived, the sources said. 
 
 Her body was taken by the medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. 
 
 The Rolling Stones are presently in Australia as part of a world tour. (@RollingStones via Twitter) The Rolling Stones private jet is seen at Perth Airport on Tuesday. (Sabine Albers/Getty Images ) Mick Jagger and L'Wren Scott pose following her Fall/Winter 2012 collection during New York Fashion Week. (CARLO ALLEGRI/REUTERS) 
 
 Fashion icon Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue, said that Scott was “a total perfectionist.” 
 
 “In person, L’Wren was always unbelievably generous, gracious, kind and so much fun,” said Wintour. “Her old-world American manners and charm were from another time, but her sensibility was always fiercely modern. We will all miss her.” 
 
 Designer Michael Houghton said that like Jagger, he was shocked. 
 
 “I spoke to people in the Stones camp,” Houghton told The News. “Everyone is shocked. She seemed to have her career going well and everyone assumed things were fine between her and Mick.” 
 
 Example of an apartment located in the building where L'Wren Scott lived. (Scott Wintrow/Gamut Photos) The medical examiner's van leaves with the body of L'Wren Scott. (JB NICHOLAS for New York Daily News) 
 
 Scott lived and died in a 2,364-square-foot duplex with 3 1/2 baths and three bedrooms, teak wood floors, and floor-to-ceiling glass walls. 
 
 RIP L'Wren Scott and thank you for making me feel beautiful. @lwrenscott #L'WrenScott — Bo Derek (@boderek) March 17, 2014 
 
 Actress Nicole Kidman also owned a pad in the 11th Ave. tower. 
 
 “Nicole and L’Wren were close friends for 25 years,” Kidman’s rep said. “Nicole is heartbroken and in shock right now and unable to say anything.” 
 
 Mick Jagger tweeted a photo of himself in Perth, Australia, on Monday. (Twitter) 
 
 A spokesman for Scott’s family asked “that their privacy be respected.” 
 
 Jagger and Scott were an item for 13 years — longer than he was married to Bianca Jagger (eight years) and Jerry Hall (nine years). Scott was friends with Bianca. 
 
 “Heartbroken to learn of the loss of the lovely and talented L’Wren Scott,” Bianca Jagger tweeted. “My thoughts and prayers are with her family. May she rest in peace.” 
 
 Scott was already a star in the fashion world when she crossed paths with Jagger, and she towered over the legendary lothario. 
 
 Assistant Brittany Penebre discovered Scott dead in her apartment. Lupe Montufar, 57, L'wren Scott's housekeeper from 1993 to 2009. (Carlos Delgado/for New York Daily News) 
 
 
 
 Scott’s former housekeeper in Hollywood Hills, Lupe Montufar, 57, said Scott “sacrificed a lot” to be with Jagger. 
 
 “She knew there were other women, but she accepted it to be with him,” Montufar told The News. “He had her under his spell.” 
 
 “She would tell me she wanted to get married and have a family, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up or say it out loud to Mick. She didn’t want to pressure him,” said the housekeeper, who worked for Scott from 1993 to 2009. 
 
 “She always dreamed about having fame, fortune and money. She had all that in her hands with him.” 
 
 Scott had been dating 'Rolling Stone' icon Mick Jagger since 2001. (Randy Brooke/WireImages) 
 
 Montufar said she never knew her former boss to be depressed — and said the times she’d seen her down, she would get out of it by going on a shopping spree. 
 
 In December, Scott made a move into the mass market with a limited-edition line she designed for Banana Republic and it sold out completely. But it apparently wasn’t enough to put her company back in the black. 
 
 In addition to her family, Scott is survived by ex-husband Anthony Blake Brand, 52. They divorced in 1996. 
 
 With Rocco Parascandola, Nancy Dillon, Chelsia Rose Marcius, Brad Gerick, Oren Yaniv and Brian Niemietz 
 
 tmoore@nydailynews.com 
 
 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing! ||||| When news outlets identified designer L’Wren Scott as “Mick Jagger’s girlfriend,” were they being sexist? Lazy? Or were they simply identifying her for the benefit of those unversed in high fashion? 
 
 Scott was found dead in her Manhattan apartment Monday morning by her assistant. Reports have said she tied a scarf around her neck – one of her own designs – and tied the other to the handle of a French door. 
 
 The headlines ranged from blaring to spare and muted. “BREAKING: @lwrenscott, model, designer, @mickjagger’s girlfriend, found hanging dead at apartment,” the New York Daily News tweeted. 
 
 The New York Times Style section, which would have been eminently aware of Scott’s profile as a New York designer, chose to tweet “Mick Jagger’s Girlfriend Found Dead, Official Says.” The Post retweeted a tweet from television critic Hank Stuever, linking to an article by fashion critic Robin Givhan. The Los Angeles Times tweeted, “L’Wren Scott, fashion designer, found dead in New York.” 
 
 Many took to Twitter to express their dismay over headlines and tweets that erased Scott’s identity as a designer, or put primary focus on her relationship with Jagger. 
 
 .@LauraBrown You’re exactly right. RT Hey NYT, her name is L’Wren Scott. @NYTStyles Mick Jagger’s Girlfriend Found Dead, Official Says — stuart emmrich (@StuartEmmrichNY) March 17, 2014 
 
 So sad that in media reports today, she was reduced to “the girlfriend of”. L’Wren Scott was an accomplished designer & businesswomen. #RIP — Annebelle Whitlock (@IAmTheBestMe) March 17, 2014 
 
 Am I the only one that didn’t know that L’Wren Scott was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend and only knew her for incredible talent? #RIPLwrenScott — Olivia Wisniewski (@oywisniewski) March 17, 2014 
 
 OK Twitter – and media agencies – can you please stop defining L’Wren Scott solely by her status as someone’s girlfriend. PLEASE. — Melanie Simms (@SimmsMelanie) March 17, 2014 
 
 
 
 Scott took great pains to establish herself as a model, costume designer, stylist, and fashion designer, independent of her relationship with the Rolling Stones frontman, whom she’d dated since 2001. And with good reason: it was a requirement if she wanted to be taken seriously by her peers in the fashion world. 
 
 Givhan wrote: 
 
 Seventh Avenue loves dressing stars; it loves using them to pitch products. But do not let some boldface name declare herself a designer. For that, the punishment is derision, suspicion and an enormous helping of disdain. Scott had the worst kind of fame. Hers was reflected glory: She was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend. 
 
 If women, even women with their own careers, are married to much more famous men, are they always destined to be known as someone’s wife? Is it appropriate, in a news story, to call Georgina Chapman, “wife of Hollywood mega-producer Harvey Weinstein,” when you could refer to her as “co-founder of Marchesa,” an incredibly successful fashion line? This isn’t a new phenomenon. A 2013 report by the Women’s Media Center examining obituaries of women found that “in 1972, a typical female obit was two paragraphs, and spoke not of the deceased’s accomplishments but of those of her husband and sons.” 
 
 Tuesday night, the Associated Press published a list in connection with Scott’s death: “Mick Jagger’s past wives and girlfriends.” 
 
 In 2013 interview with the London Times, Scott made her position clear. 
 
 “I don’t court that life. I’d rather be a worker bee,” she said. “I’m a fashion designer. I don’t want to be defined as someone’s girlfriend. You always wonder if people will pay attention to the hard work that goes into what you do. And when you’re taking on something on your own, it’s your company, your investment – your life.” 
 
 RELATED: When a fashion company is underwater, the options are few 
 
 UPDATE: The Rolling Stones have canceled their Perth, Australia tour date, which they would have played Wednesday. ||||| Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News The tony condominium building where L'Wren Scott purportedly committed suicide Monday was ranked this year as the ninth most expensive address in New York City by real estate site Curbed.com. 
 
 The ultra-posh building where Mick Jagger’s girlfriend killed herself is one of the most exclusive addresses in New York City — and one of the most expensive. 
 
 Some condominiums at 200 Eleventh Ave. — a striking building in Chelsea with stainless steel-encased glass on top of a terracotta base — go for more than $10 million, with one penthouse currently listed for more than $18 million. 
 
 The condos come complete with James Bond-esque “sky garages” in which residents like Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman and designer Domenico Dolce can drive their cars in a personal elevator up to their apartments. 
 
 Apartment 9S, where L’Wren Scott apparently committed suicide, is a 2,364-square-foot duplex with 3.5 baths and 3 bedrooms. 
 
 Scott Wintrow/Gamut Photos Example of the interior of an apartment located in 200 Eleventh Ave. 
 
 A neighbor of Scott’s in the tony building called Monday “a very sad day.” 
 
 “It’s such a sad thing,” said Amanda Bowman, who lives on the 11th floor of the building. She said she did not know Scott. 
 
 “It’s heartbreaking actually to think that someone that young and beautiful would end her life that way,” she said. 
 
 Andrew Schwartz/For New York Daily News L'Wren Scott, fashion designer and girlfriend of Mick Jagger, lived and sadly died at this exclusive Manhattan address. 
 
 Scott’s apartment features a floor-to-ceiling glass wall that offers a breathtaking view of the Hudson River and teak floors throughout, including movable teak kitchen doors. 
 
 A limited liability corporation called Scottland Management LLC was registered in January 2010 and is listed as the buyer of the condo. 
 
 Scottland’s agent, Forte Management on Varick St. in Manhattan, did not return calls seeking comment. 
 
 Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News The 2,364-square-foot condo where L'Wren Scott died has breathtaking views like this one, seen from the 14th floor of 200 Eleventh Ave. in Chelsea. 
 
 Forte Management’s address is also listed as one of L’Wren Scott’s previous addresses, according to records. 
 
 Earlier this year, 200 Eleventh was ranked as the ninth most expensive address in New York City by real estate site Curbed.com. 
 
 The granddaughter of Pablo Picasso, Diana Widmaier-Picasso, bought a 2,391-square-foot 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom duplex in the building last August for $8.2 million, according to city records. 
 
 Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Shown here is the lobby of 200 Eleventh Ave. in New York City. 
 
 Construction on the 19-story, 15 -unit building designed by Selldorf Architects began in 2007. The building opened in 2010. 
 
 The building’s listed owners, Filiberto Properties did not return calls seeking comment. ||||| A representative for Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger denied a New York Post report that the singer had broken up with longtime girlfriend L'Wren Scott before her apparent suicide. 
 
 In a statement to media organizations late Monday, Victoria Scarfone wrote, "The story in the New York Post [of] a split between Mick Jagger and L'Wren Scott is 100 percent untrue. There is absolutely no basis in fact to this story. It is a horrible and inaccurate piece of gossip during this very tragic time for Mick." 
 
 The Post report cited an unnamed source who claimed that Scott had told a longtime friend that the 70-year-old Jagger had ended their 13-year relationship. Another source told the paper that Scott had planned to go apartment-hunting after Jagger returned from the band's upcoming tour of Australia. 
 
 Scott, who was believed to be 49, but never disclosed her precise age, was found dead in her Manhattan apartment at 10 a.m. Monday; no note was found and there was no sign of foul play, police said. The designer had texted her assistant 90 minutes earlier and asked her to come to her apartment but didn't say why. She was found kneeling with a scarf wrapped around her neck that had been tied to the handle of a French door, police said. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report.
– The condo building where fashion designer L'Wren Scott was found dead yesterday is the ninth most expensive address in New York City, an exclusive building where units sell for $10 million or more and Scott's neighbors included Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, the New York Daily News reports. Scott lived in apartment 9S at the Chelsea building, 200 Eleventh Ave., a 2,364-square-foot duplex with 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, and a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with a view of the Hudson. She owned the $5.6 million pad outright, the Daily News notes in a separate story. More details are trickling out about how she spent her last moments there: The 6'3" former model reportedly used a black satin scarf to hang herself from the L-shaped handle of a French door on her balcony (the Washington Post says the scarf was one of her own designs); she was found kneeling, with the scarf wrapped around her neck and the other end tied to the handle, Fox News reports. A law enforcement source tells the New York Post she used her own body weight to cut off oxygen to her brain, calling it a "painless" way to die. The Daily News' police source explains further: "You lean away from the door applying pressure till you pass out. After that, gravity takes over." Click for more on what may have driven Scott to suicide.