L'Wren Scott: stars 'devastated' by designer's apparent suicide

CELEBRITIES and friends of designer L'Wren Scott have spoken of their "shock" and "heartbreak" over her apparent suicide.

The former model is believed to have been found hanged at her home in New York on Monday morning. Her body was reportedly discovered by her assistant 90 minutes after she sent a text message asking her to come to her Manhattan apartment. Police said there was no sign of foul play and no note was found.

Mick Jagger, Scott's partner of 13 years, has hit out at a report that he had recently split from the designer, who was believed to be 49. A spokesman described the claim they had broken up as "100 per cent untrue".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The 70-year-old singer, who had just arrived in Perth for the Rolling Stones Australian tour, is said to be "completely shocked and devastated by the news". The band have cancelled their first show, which was due to take place on Wednesday.

Originally named Luann Bambrough, Scott was adopted and raised by Mormon parents in northern Utah, where she graduated from high school in 1985. By the age of 17, Scott was 6ft3in and began her career as a model. She later moved to Los Angeles to become a fashion stylist, worked as a costume consultant on films such as Ocean's Thirteen and Eyes Wide Shut, and founded her own high-end fashion label in 2006, dressing celebrities and actresses such as Michelle Obama, Sarah Jessica Parker and Angelina Jolie.

Scott was due to present her latest collection at London Fashion Week last month, but her show was abruptly cancelled because of "production delays". Accounts filed with Companies House last October show that Scott's British company, LS Fashion Ltd, owed creditors millions of pounds. The firm apparently ran a loss of £3.5m in 2012, reports The Guardian.

American fashion designer Marc Jacobs has said Scott will "forever be missed", while supermodel Naomi Campbell described Scott as "the epitome of elegance and femininity".

A spokeswoman for Nicole Kidman said the actress was "heartbroken and in shock", while Madonna wrote in a statement: "This is a horrible and tragic loss. I'm so upset. I loved L'Wren's work and she was always so generous with me."

American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wrote in a tribute: "L'Wren was a total perfectionist, someone who absolutely embodied everything her marvellous clothes stood for: strength of character combined with a confident and powerful style."