Sergio Rossi (31 July 1935 – 2 April 2020) was an Italian shoe designer, who founded
his own brand.
Biography
Rossi was born in
San Mauro Pascoli
San Mauro Pascoli ( rgn, San Mevar) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Forlì-Cesena in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southeast of Forlì. It is at some from the sea, the ''frazi ...
in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. He worked with his father, a shoemaker, and learned the trade.
In 1951, he opened his first shoe store. He also made sandals and sold them to beach-goers in
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
and at
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
boutiques. In 1968, the first shoes, marked with the Rossi brand, were produced.
Each pair of shoes took at least 14 hours to make and went through 120 different stages. They were seen on runways for
Gianni Versace
Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...
,
Azzedine Alaia Izz ud-Din, Izz al-Din (Arabic: عزّ الدين or commonly written عزّ الدين, ''‘izzu ’d-dīn'', ''‘izza ’d-dīn'', in the modern day mostly written as Azzedine or Azzeddine) is an Arabic male given name meaning "high rank (honour ...
and
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmet ...
. He first gained attention in 1960 when film director
Federico Fellini used his shoe for actress
Anita Ekberg
Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...
in ''
La Dolce Vita
''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Marcello ...
''.
In 1999, his brand was sold to the Gucci Group, known now as
Kering
Kering () is a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent.
The timber-trading company Pinault S.A. was founded in 1963, by ...
for $96.2 million. It was then sold by Kering to
Investindustrial
Investindustrial is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of mid-market companies in Europe and selectively in North America. It was founded in 1990 by Andrea Campanini Bonomi out of an industrial conglomerate.
History
Founded in 1 ...
in 2015.
In March 2020, Rossi and his company donated
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
100,000 to the
Ospedale Luigi Sacco Ospedale Luigi Sacco is a hospital in the quartiere of Vialba in Milan, Italy. It was previously known as "sanatorio di Vialba" (Vialba sanitorium). It is named for , an Italian physician who pioneered smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, in a joint effort from the fashion industry to combat the
coronavirus pandemic in Italy.
Family
Rossi's son, Gianvito Rossi, created his own footwear collection in 2006.
Death
On 2 April 2020, Rossi died in
Cesena
Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...
at the Maurizio Bufalini Hospital from
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
at the age of 84.
References
1935 births
2020 deaths
Shoemakers
Italian fashion designers
People from the Province of Forlì-Cesena
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Emilia-Romagna
Italian business executives
Italian company founders
{{Italy-artist-stub