Yesterday fashion designer L'Wren Scott was found dead in her Chelsea apartment of an apparent suicide. Now it's being reported that she was in dire financial straits with her clothing line: According to the Telegraph, "Her British-based fashion firm, LS Fashion Ltd, was running at a loss of £3.5 million. Accounts filed at Companies House in October show that the company’s deficit in 2012 had grown from £2.5 million the previous year, and had been running at a loss for several years before that. A total of £4.6 million was owed to creditors, with £1 million falling due for payment to within a year, though the company had £1.1 million worth of assets."
The Medical Examiner will determine cause of death, but it's believed it was a suicide. Scott reportedly used a black satin scarf, tied around a doorknob, to hang herself. She had texted her assistant at 8:30 a.m. to come by her condo at swank 200 Eleventh Avenue (where the multimillion dollar apartments have garages on their floors), and when the assistant arrived at 10 a.m., Scott was dead.
Scott, 49, had cancelled her London Fashion Week Show, allegedly due to production delays, but now many believe it was due to money: Her shows were elaborate—the Telegraph pointed out, "Invitations [to her shows] were limited but highly prized, not least because a cooked lunch was served during the show—a unique and typically unpredictable L'Wrensque touch—but also because of the highly lacquered glamour that oozed from the catwalk." The NY Times reported, "One of Ms. Scott’s last collections was shown in London in 2013 at a seated lunch in an ornate building on the banks of the Thames, where a beaming Mr. Jagger sat next to Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, taking pictures of the models as they walked by."
A friend told the Daily News, "Everyone thought she had a perfect life, but when you would chat to her it was clear her life was far from it. 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."
Scott had been dating Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger since 2001, and his spokesperson described him as "completely shocked and devastated." Jagger was set to perform with the band in Australia, but now their Wednesday concert has been cancelled and the rest of the Australian dates are questionable. It's unclear if Jagger is flying back to NY; the Sydney Morning Herald says, "Jagger's daughter Georgia May, who is understood to be close to Scott, has hopped on a flight back to New York after arriving in Melbourne at 7.15 a.m. for fashion week."
The Post reported that Jagger and Scott broke up before her death, but his spokesperson vehemently denied the claim: "The story in the New York Post re a split between Mick Jagger and L’Wren Scott is 100 % 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."
Scott, born Luann Bambrough, was first a model (her 6'3" height and 42-inch legs caught the eye of photographer Bruce Weber), then a stylist and later became a fashion designer, winning accolades for her feminine and flattering tailored designs. One of her friends, actress Ellen Barkin, told the NY Times, "These dresses do extraordinary things to anybody... If I looked naked like I look in her dresses, I’d be very happy." Christina Hendricks was also a big fan: "L'Wren's clothes make you feel like a sexy pin-up, a sophisticated lady and a rockstar all at once. She designs for how women want to look and for what men want to look at."
InStyle's Eric Wilson wrote, "L’Wren Scott took command of any room she entered. At 6-foot-3, the designer, who maintained a model’s physique well into her 40s, was hard to miss, not merely for her considerable beauty. She had the kind of personality that was immediately arresting and slightly formal, but she was also conscious that her height could be intimidating, so she always made an extra effort to be sunny and gracious, and often quite funny. Once, when greeting the comedian Martin Short at a party, she introduced herself as 'Miss Tall.'"
Diane von Furstenberg told the Times, "There are no words to describe how I feel. She was a very talented designer and a beautiful woman. I wish she would have reached for help so that such a tragedy would not have happened." And Bianca Jagger, Mick Jagger's first wife, Tweeted, "Heartbroken to learn of the loss of the lovely and talented L'Wren Scott. My thoughts and prayers are with her family. May she rest in peace."
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
