A New York medical examiner has ruled that Kate Spade's death was caused by suicide, two days after the fashion designer died in her Manhattan flat.
Spade's body was discovered on Tuesday by a cleaner in her Park Avenue home.
Federal health officials said on Thursday that US suicides had risen by 30% since 1999, and presents a "growing public health problem".
Her family said that Spade would have liked if her death could help shed light on mental health issues.
Mental illness 'doesn't discriminate'
High school handbags and the New York City dream
Kate Spade: A legacy of fashion in photos
"One thing we feel is that any talk that they do that helps somebody else - Katy would have liked that," her 89-year-old father, Frank Brosnahan, told the Kansas City Star.
"She was always giving and charitable. If that helped anybody avoid anything - fine, she'd be delighted."
Mr Brosnahan added that the iconic designer had "been taking some pills, which I advised her not to take", and said that he was aware that his most famous of six children had been having mental health issues.
"Well, I don't know what happened," her father said while recalling a phone conversation they had the night before she died.
"The last I talked with her... she was happy planning a trip to California to look at colleges. She doted on her daughter."
Spade's body was discovered on Tuesday by a cleaner in her Park Avenue home.
Federal health officials said on Thursday that US suicides had risen by 30% since 1999, and presents a "growing public health problem".
Her family said that Spade would have liked if her death could help shed light on mental health issues.
Mental illness 'doesn't discriminate'
High school handbags and the New York City dream
Kate Spade: A legacy of fashion in photos
"One thing we feel is that any talk that they do that helps somebody else - Katy would have liked that," her 89-year-old father, Frank Brosnahan, told the Kansas City Star.
"She was always giving and charitable. If that helped anybody avoid anything - fine, she'd be delighted."
Mr Brosnahan added that the iconic designer had "been taking some pills, which I advised her not to take", and said that he was aware that his most famous of six children had been having mental health issues.
"Well, I don't know what happened," her father said while recalling a phone conversation they had the night before she died.
"The last I talked with her... she was happy planning a trip to California to look at colleges. She doted on her daughter."
