Italian Footwear Icon Sergio Rossi Dies Of Coronavirus At 84

Sergio Rossi The Winter 2017/18 - Milan Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2017/18

Shoe icon Sergio Rossi has died days after being hospitalized with COVID-19 (coronavirus). He was 84.

On Friday morning (April 3), WWD reported that the Italian women’s footwear designer had passed away from the novel virus in Cesena, Italy. Sergio Rossi Group CEO Riccardo Sciutto addressed the unfortunate news of Rossi’s death in a statement via the brand’s Instagram account.

“Today everyone at Sergio Rossi joins me in remembering our dear Sergio, the inspiring founder of our dream,” Sciutto begins the post. “Sergio Rossi was a master, and it is my great honor to have met him and gotten to present him the archive earlier this year. His vision and approach will remain our guide in the growth of the brand and the business. … Our long and glorious history started from his incredible vision and we’ll remember his creativity forever.”

The craftsman, whose eponymous company produces handbags and other fashionable accessories for women, inherited the artisan trade from his father before building his own factory in 1951. After years of selling hand-crafted sandals, Rossi began crafting his own designs, including the classic Opanca model, before his brand rose to prominence in his native Italy in the 1960s.

Rossi is the latest famous figure to pass away from the highly-contagious virus. Among the number of celebs who have contracted the disease, jazz patriarch Ellis Marsaliscountry legend Joe Diffie, and Fountains of Wayne singer Adam Schlesinger have also died from COVID-19.

To keep up to date on the latest news about the coronavirus and to understand what you need to stay safe and healthy, check out the Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction podcast from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Photo: Getty Images


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