Kate Spade was battling “depression and anxiety” when she took her own life, according to her husband Andy, who broke his silence on her passing.

The fashion designer was found dead in her New York City apartment earlier this week at the age of 55, and her husband Andy – who is the brother of actor David Spade – has now broken his silence on the tragic news, in a lengthy statement in which he detailed his wife’s battle with her mental health. He said in the statement: “Kate was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the kindest person I’ve ever known and my best friend for 35 years. My daughter and I are devastated by her loss, and can’t even begin to fathom life without her. We are deeply heartbroken and miss her already.

“Kate suffered from depression and anxiety for many years. She was actively seeking help and working closely with her doctors to treat her disease, one that takes far too many lives. We were in touch with her the night before and she sounded happy. There was no indication and no warning that she would do this. It was a complete shock. And it clearly wasn’t her. There were personal demons she was battling.”

Andy and Kate – who have 13-year-old daughter Frances Beatrix together – had been living separately for 10 months before her passing, but the pair were still close, and Andy has insisted earlier reports about an impending divorce are untrue.

He continued: “For the past 10 months we had been living separately, but within a few blocks of each other. Bea was living with both of us and we saw each other or spoke every day. We ate many meals together as a family and continued to vacation together as a family. Our daughter was our priority. We were not legally separated, and never even discussed divorce. We were best friends trying to work through our problems in the best way we knew how. We were together for 35 years. We loved each other very much and simply needed a break.

“This is the truth. Anything else that is out there right now is false. She was actively seeking help for depression and anxiety over the last five years, seeing a doctor on a regular basis and taking medication for both depression and anxiety. There was no substance or alcohol abuse. There were no business problems. We loved creating our businesses together. We were co-parenting our beautiful daughter.”

The co-founder of Kate Spade New York closed his statement by highlighting that his “main concern” now is the grief his young daughter is facing.

In the statement, which was obtained by the New York Times, he said: “My main concern is Bea and protecting her privacy as she deals with the unimaginable grief of losing her mother. Kate loved Bea so very much.”