Sergio Rossi’s family thus honored Sergio Rossi on Friday, a day after the legendary footwear designer died in Cesena, Italy, “not without fighting.” Rossi, who was 84, had contracted the coronavirus and had been hospitalized for days in the intensive care unit of the Bufalini hospital in Cesena.
Rossi began creating footwear in the Fifties and launched his first namesake collection in 1968. At the same time, over the years he designed shoes for brands including Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Azzedine Alaïa. Rossi left his namesake brand shortly after then-Gucci Group, now Kering, took full control of the company in 2004 . European investment fund Investindustrial bought the company in 2015.
Sciutto recalled how moved Rossi was when he visited the archive last Christmas. “He was really surprised that so many of his designs from the Fifties onward were part of the archive. He had never thought of doing it because he had lived those moments, but the archive is an inspiration for us.”