Ulta Beauty apologizes to Kate Spade's family for sending an insensitive email to customers promoting a product from the late designer's namesake brand

• Ulta Beauty has apologized for sending customers an insensitive email about a Kate Spade perfume.
• The subject line read, "Come hang with Kate Spade."

Ulta Beauty has apologized after sending customers an email promoting a Kate Spade New York product with what many considered an insensitive subject line.

Estee Laundry, a beauty-industry watchdog Instagram account with 195,000 followers, shared a post calling out Ulta Beauty on Sunday. In its post, Estee Laundry shared a tip about the correspondence from an unnamed person along with screenshots of the email in question. According to Estee Laundry's post, the beauty retailer's email sent earlier on Sunday advertised Kate Spade New York's Sparkle Eau de Parfum Intense with the subject line, "Come hang with Kate Spade."

The subject line was considered upsetting by some given the nature of Spade's death. Spade, 55, died in June 2018 in her New York City apartment. At the time, the New York City Medical Examiner confirmed that Spade's cause of death was suicide by hanging.

The watchdog account captioned its post: "Trigger warning: suicide. Insensitive oversight #UltaBeauty."

A post shared by Estée Laundry (@esteelaundry)

In a statement to Insider, an Ulta Beauty representative confirmed the email was sent to customers and apologized to its customers, the Kate Spade New York brand, and the Spade family.

"Ulta Beauty recently sent an email featuring kate spade new york fragrance with an insensitive subject line and for this, we sincerely apologize," the statement said. "Mental health is a very serious, important issue in this country, and not something we would ever take lightly. We apologize to the Spade family, our kate spade new york brand partners, and to our guests. Thank you for understanding as we strive to do better."

A representative for Kate Spade New York confirmed to Insider they received Ulta's statement.

Customers who originally received the email shared screenshots of the subject line on Twitter, where many took fault with what it said.

"I simply cannot believe this is a real email I received," one user wrote on Sunday, referring to the email.

—Shira (@theshirshow) May 1, 2022

Another Twitter user said they were "really disturbed" adding, "How could anyone on staff think this was an appropriate subject line?"

—Veronica (@BuyMeASlushie) May 1, 2022

As Insider previously reported, Spade and her husband, Andy Spade, created the namesake brand in 1993 before selling it to Neiman Marcus in 2006. Neiman Marcus later sold Kate Spade New York to Liz Claiborne, and now it's owned by Tapestry.

In 2019, the company revealed that it changed its iconic logo and signature tag color from green to pink. Kate Spade New York also made changes to its handbag designs. In 2020, Kate Spade New York made headlines with its top-selling product: a $348 pineapple-themed bag.