When I was 8-years-old, my great aunt from New York City gifted me my very first designer handbag. It was colorful, it was fun, it was tasteful. It was by Kate Spade.

I'm sure you've heard the news by now, on Tuesday morning in her Manhattan apartment designer, Kate Spade, was found dead by an apparent suicide.

Kate Spade really made fashion what it is today, she made it bright, fun and young. In a world full of European designers with basic colors and patterns, the entrepreneur made it different when she started designing handbags with her husband in 1993.

The American icon, Kate Spade was originally from Kansas City, Missouri and graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in Journalism in 1985. The next year she got a job in the accessories department at the women's magazine, "Mademoiselle," in Manhattan where she eventually was the senior fashion editor/head of accessories. Spade left "Mademoiselle" in 1991 when she decided she needed to create her own handbags and make them stylish while also sensible for the average fashionable women, something that she thought handbags lacked while working at "Mademoiselle." This then created the empire today, which is Kate Spade, New York.

Kate Spade originally started as just handbags, but they have expanded to accessories, clothes, fragrance, baby items, bedding, home items, and more. There are also Kate Spade boutiques around the world that are full of color, patterns, and that classic black spade logo. Spade has also won many awards for her designs and creative eye, including "Best Accessory Designer of the Year" and Elle Décor's "Elle Décor International Design Award for Bedding."

It's now 14 years later since I got my first Kate Spade, and I still have it. Known for having designs that are cheerful, bold, and classic, Kate Spade is a fashion icon and "girl boss" who will always be remembered.

My first Kate Spade handbagAmanda Varin