NEW YORK — Bright. Vibrant. Colorful. And, most essentially, fun.

The same words used so often to describe Kate Spade’s enormously popular handbags — “It” bags that were both aspirational and affordable — were an apt description of the woman herself, say many in the fashion world. And that only contributed to the sense of shock and loss in the industry upon hearing the news Tuesday that Spade had apparently taken her own life at 55.

“She was always just as happy and delightful as her collection was,” said Fern Mallis, industry consultant and former director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America during Spade’s rise to success in the 1990s. “She was every bit the representation of that brand, and the fun of it all.”

Indeed, Spade had said it herself: “I hope that people remember me not just as a good businesswoman,” she told Glamour magazine in 2002, “but as a great friend — and a heck of a lot of fun.”

Spade was found hanged in the bedroom of her Park Avenue apartment Tuesday morning in an apparent suicide, law enforcement officials said.

Born Katherine Brosnahan, Spade grew up in Kansas City, Mo. She was working as an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine when she launched her company with husband Andy in their New York apartment in 1993, based on six shapes of bags she thought every working woman needed. She called them her “stepping stones” — and said years later that they were still her favorites.