( CNN ) -- L'Wren Scott , a notable fashion designer and longtime girlfriend of Mick Jagger , killed herself by `` hanging , '' New York City 's chief medical examiner 's office announced Wednesday . `` The manner of death was determined to be suicide , '' said Julie Bolcer , a spokeswoman for the office . Scott 's remains have been claimed , according to Bolcer , though it was not immediately known by whom . Wednesday 's announcement makes official what was suspected after news came out about the 49-year-old woman 's death . Business woes may have triggered suicide . A law enforcement official familiar with the investigation earlier said Scott 's assistant -- after responding to a text to `` come by '' -- found the designer hanging from a door knob with a scarf around her neck on Monday morning . The lanky former model transitioned to become a stylist and eventually a designer . She designed costumes for films such as the 1996 remake of `` Diabolique , '' 2000 's `` Mercy '' and 2007 's `` Ocean 's Thirteen . '' In addition to her haute couture creations , she designed a collection for Banana Republic that was introduced late last year . Madonna , Allison Williams and Christina Hendricks were among her celebrity clients . But she was most closely associated with Jagger , 70 -- not just for designing the iconic rocker 's duds for the Rolling Stones ' 50th anniversary tour , which began in 2012 , but for being his longtime companion . The couple had been dating since at least 2003 . `` I am still struggling to understand how my lover and best friend could end her life in this tragic way , '' read a statement on the singer 's website , MickJagger.com . `` We spent many wonderful years together and had made a great life for ourselves . She had great presence and her talent was much admired , not least by me . '' People we lost in 2014 . CNN 's Shimon Prokupecz and Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report .
New York medical staff determines that L'Wren Scott died of cancer . Her remains have been found , an office spokeswoman said . The notable fashion designer was Mick Jagger 's longtime friend .