Bethenny Frankel’s interior designer Brooke Gomez has died. She was 49.
“We are greatly saddened by the sudden passing of our friend, Brooke Gomez, a light that shined brilliantly on everyone who knew her,” read a statement shared via Gomez’s Instagram page on Wednesday, November 22. “A gathering of friends to celebrate her life is being planned. Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.”
Us Weekly confirmed that Gomez died on Sunday, November 19. A spokesperson for the New York City Police Deputy Commissioner of Public Information told Us that officers arrived at Gomez’s New York City apartment and found her “unconscious” and “unresponsive.”
Emergency medical services arrived at the scene and pronounced Gomez dead. No criminality is suspected at this time.
Before Gomez’s passing, she shared an inspirational message in October that was stenciled on the side of a building.
“There’s a future version of you that is so proud you didn’t give up,” the quote read.
Gomez worked in the interior design industry for years. She got her start working alongside her mother, Mariette Himes Gomez, at Gomez Associates in 2001. After working with her mom for nearly two decades, Brooke went on to create her own firm, Brooke Gomez Design, in 2019.
“My mom has worked her butt off her entire life … she started this business a year after I was born and has grown it tremendously, but the business has changed so much,” Brooke explained in a 2019 interview with Business of Home. “I think it was time for both of us to have the next phase of our lives, and for her — as someone who invested all her time, energy and talent into this for 40-plus years — it was time for her to explore other interests.”
Brooke famously worked alongside Frankel, 53, on season 2 of her Bravo spinoff show, Bethenny Ever After. On the series, Brooke was tasked with designing Frankel’s Tribeca loft. In addition to working with The Real Housewives of New York City alum, Brooke also completed projects for Michael J. Fox and Sigourney Weaver. She was also one of the recipients of the Rising Star Award.
“I certainly appreciate and welcome the Gomez approach to living, but I think as a representative of the next generation, I try to incorporate more 21st century influences,” Brooke explained of her work on her website. “But I always come back to the basics which my mother has taught me, fusing the old with the new, the traditional with the contemporary. There is no sense in re-inventing the wheel so I often joke to myself that my mother is always right. But a little splash of pink never hurts!”
