Italian Shoe Designer, Sergio Rossi Dies From Coronavirus Complications

Italian Shoe Designer, Sergio Rossi Dies From Coronavirus Complications

One of the most famous luxury Italian shoe designers, Sergio Rossi, has died from coronavirus complications on Friday.

Rossi had been hospitalized for a few days before he passed away in Cesena, Italy, on Friday at the age of 84.

Several Italian media reported that Rossi, who was born in 1935, died on Thursday in a hospital in Cesena in the northern Emilia-Romagna region.

Luciana Garbuglia, the Mayor of San Mauro Pascoli, confirmed the death and its link to the novel COVID-19 to dpa.

Announcing the news of the designer’s death on Friday morning, the brand’s chief executive, Riccardo Sciutto, told the fashion website Women’s Wear Daily: “He was a master, it was a great pleasure to have met him. He was our spiritual guide and he is today more than ever.”

Sergio Rossi was born in San Mauro Pascoli, one of Italy’s main shoemaking regions, in 1935. He learned the trade from his father, began producing footwear in the early 1950s and launched his namesake brand in 1968.

Its shoes featured in the Italian film classic “La Dolce Vita”, as worn by lead actress Anita Ekberg.

In 1999, the Sergio Rossi brand was sold to the Gucci Group, now known as Kering, one of the world’s biggest luxury fashion conglomerates, before being sold by Kering to European investment house Investindustrial in 2015.

Last month Rossi donated €100,000 ($108,000) to the Sacco hospital in Milan to help in the fight against coronavirus.