NYC fashion designer Katie Gallagher murdered with fentanyl cocktail in ‘drug-facilitated theft’

An esteemed New York fashion designer whose clothes were worn by Lady Gaga was murdered by a lethal cocktail of drugs including fentanyl in an apparent robbery attempt, officials have said.

Katie Gallagher, 35, was found ‘unresponsive’ in bed at her Lower East Side apartment with ‘no obvious signs of trauma’ on July 24 last year. 

But the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed in a statement today that her death had become a murder investigation- though no arrests have yet been made. 

The medical examiner’s office said she died via ‘drug-facilitated theft,’ with fentanyl, ethanol and p-fluorofentanyl found in her system, NBC reports. 

It is not clear how the drugs were administered into her system or whether anything was stolen from her apartment. 

Katie Gallagher’s death has now been ruled a homicide after she was found unresponsive in her lower east side apartment last July

Gallagher had a host of celebrity fans. She is pictured with model Chrissy Teigen in 2014 

Gallagher’s passing shocked the fashion world last year, with a Vogue tribute labelling her ‘fiercely independent’ and a ‘hands-on artisan.’

Having grown up in rural Pennsylvania, she studied at the Rhode Island School of Design where she drew the attention of Lady Gaga’s stylist Nicola Formichetti.

Gallagher dressed Gaga before she had even graduated from school and later her items were also worn by Kourtney Kardashian and Rita Ora.

In 2016 transgender activist Laverne Cox sported one of Gallagher’s bodysuits in a photoshoot for Cosmopolitan.

An obituary for the late designer posted by her sisters called her a ‘talented and innovative pattern maker and seamstress.’

‘Like A.A. Milne’s Eeyore, she preferred gloomy days and cold rain,’ it read. 

‘As a child, she was drawn to the woods, mixing potions and playing there with her sisters. 

‘Animals were drawn to her gentle and calm demeanor. She could talk to them and once even touched a deer in the stillness of the trees.’

It went onto say she ‘loved poetry and heavy metal’ and ‘felt deeply’ with ‘an enormous, forgiving heart.’

Kourtney Kardashian is pictured in a Gallagher design in 2019

Gallagher’s designs have also been worn by a host of celebrities including Lady Gaga, left, and Rita Ora, right

‘More recently, after helping arrange flowers for one of her sister’s weddings, she became a self-taught and talented florist in New York and briefly in Los Angeles,’ the obituary continued.

Gallagher was just shy of her 36th birthday when she died.

It is not known whether she was in a relationship or whether she lived with anybody else at the time of her death. 

She was dating Russian graphic designer Nikolay Saveliev and occupied an apartment with him as of 2010, according to a profile by Refinery29 that year. 

Shortly after her death, Saveliev told Vogue: ‘She was obsessed with really technical pattern making; that was something that she became really proud of, so she spent a lot of time researching Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin patterns.

‘She didn’t want to build anything that was traditional tailoring in any way, she wanted always to subvert it.’

As of 2010 she was in a relationship with graphic designer Nikolay Saveliev. Shortly after her death, Saveliev told Vogue Gallagher was expected to get by on ‘crumbs’ due to the unpredictable nature of the fashion industry 

See also  Chelsea Handler shows off her chest while telling her fans to 'preserve' their rights and vote

Vogue described the late fashion designer as ‘fiercely independent’ and a ‘hands-on artisan.’ It is not known whether she was in a relationship at the time of her death or whether she lived with anybody else 

He added: ‘She was always fascinated by transience and death, and of course in context it’s a little sad.’ 

Saveliev went on to suggest Gallagher struggled with the unpredictability of high-end fashion.

‘The thing about fashion is it gives you piecemeal ideas of feeling really good and really important; like you’re totally broke, but then you end up being invited to Cannes, or whatever,’ he said.

‘You get little crumbs here and there and they feel really great. I think Katie really just got by on the crumbs.’ 

Her last ever Instagram featured a sketch she had drawn of some bats, with the caption: ‘I draw and paint ya know.’ 

Just last week her sisters announced via GoFundMe they would be hosting a celebration of her life and work in New York in May.

The family had been fundraising to finish and display her 27th fashion collection which she was working on in the months before her death. 

‘Katie loved stories and chose to tell them through fashion,’ the page read.

‘Although our hearts are aching, we have found some solace in the ambition to continue to honor Katie’s dreams and make sure that her story is told.   

‘As of Friday the page had raised just over $30,000.’

‘Drug-facilitated theft’ was listed as the cause of death in two separate incidents in New York last year. 

Both Julio Ramirez, 25, and John Umberger, 33, died from a cocktail of fentanyl, cocaine, lidocaine and ethanol found in their blood. Ramirez had also ingested heroin.  

Gallagher was found in bed at her lower east side apartment in New York, pictured 

Models wearing Gallagher’s design pose during a show at New York fashion week in 2012

The duo were found dead after leaving gay bars in Hell’s Kitchen, with both of their bank accounts drained.

There is no reason to believe their deaths are related to Gallagher’s.

Dailymail.com has reached out to the Gallagher family for comment.