All Obituary articles
-
News briefs
Scarpa mourns the loss of Filippo Zanin and Francesco Favilli
Filippo Zanin and Francesco Favilli, a marketing specialist and a brand manager of the mountain category at Scarpa, passed away on Sept. 3 while climbing the south face of the Marmolada in the Italian Dolomites. Zanin, 36, and Favilli, 44, were expert mountaineers and rock climbers, both well-known in ...
-
News briefs
The founder of Oboz has passed away
Outdoor industry veteran John Connelly passed away on Aug. 22 at the age of 77 after a long battle with various cancers. Connelly dedicated 50 years to the outdoor industry, beginning his career at an outdoor shop in Richmond, Virginia, and later contributing to over 15 outdoor footwear brands. In ...
-
ArticleThe Swiss footwear retail veteran Max Vögele dies at 93
The Swiss shoe entrepreneur Max Vögele has died at the age of 93 in Pfäffikon, in the canton of Zurich. The industry veteran was responsible for building one of Switzerland’s best-known footwear retailers, Karl Vögele AG (KVAG), which operated the banners Vögele Shoes, Bingo and Max Shoes. Born ...
-
News briefs
Ganter and Hassia’s sales representative Uwe Hermeling dies at 54
Uwe Hermeling, the sales representative for the Austrian comfort shoe brands Hassia and Ganter, died unexpectedly. He was 54 years old. The sales expert had worked at Ganter and Hassia for four years. His career also included positions at Mephisto, Marc Shoes and Rohde. Hermeling previously worked as ...
-
News briefs
Kienast Group’s former chief Michael Kienast dies
Michael Kienast, the former head of the family-run shoe retailer of the same name, has died, the company said in a statement. The entrepreneur passed away on May 12 at the age of 82 after a serious illness. An “entrepreneur with heart and soul”, Kienast was “a visionary who, ...
-
ArticleLudwig Görtz dies at 89
Ludwig Görtz, the former boss and owner of the footwear retailer Görtz, died on Easter Sunday at the age of 89, according to media reports. The Hamburg native joined his family’s business in 1960, at the age of 26, and took over the management of the company from his ...
-
News briefs
Emilio Zamberlan has passed away
Emilio Zamberlan has passed away at the age of 80. His father, Giuseppe, was the founder of the Italian footwear company Calzaturificio Zamberlan, which specializes in handmade outdoor and hunting footwear, in 1929. The company is now led by the third generation with Marco and Maria. Emilio Zamberlan projected Calzaturificio ...
-
News briefs
Footwear veteran Helmut Werdich dies at 89
Helmut Werdich, a footwear entrepreneur who turned a small family business into a shoe retail chain operating throughout southern Germany, has died at 89. Born on Feb. 1, 1934 in Wangen, in the Baden-Württemberg region of Germany, as the eldest of four children, Werdich was a third-generation footwear professional. ...
-
News briefs
Sosandar’s chairman passes away
The British fashion brand Sosandar said that its non-executive chairman, Bill Murray, has passed away. “It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Bill over the weekend. He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of working with him. Bill has left a ...
-
News briefs
Paco Rabanne dies at 88
The Spanish designer Paco Rabanne passed away on Feb. 3, 2023, at the age of 88, announced Puig, the Spanish group that owns the brand’s fashion and fragrance businesses. Rabanne died in the village of Portsall, in the French region of Brittany, where he lived. Born in Spain on Feb. ...
-
News briefs
Candice Cooper founder Christoph Siegel dead at 68
Christoph Siegel, the founder of the Candice Cooper footwear brand, has died in Essen at the age of 68. The Bavarian-born shoe specialist started his career in the footwear industry more than 45 years ago as a sales representative with well-known brands such as Charles Jourdan. In 2007, ...
-
News briefs
Anna und Paul founder and managing director Sonja Rendez dies at 57
Sonja Rendez, the founder and long-time managing director of the Cologne-based children’s shoe company Anna und Paul GmbH, died on Dec. 14, 2022 at the age of 57. The fashion designer had been battling cancer. Rendez founded the company for baby crawling and walking shoes in 2001 and served ...
-
News briefs
Vivienne Westwood dies aged 81
Vivienne Westwood died on Dec. 29 at the age of 81, her namesake fashion house announced on Twitter. The British fashion designer died “peacefully and surrounded by her family, in Clapham, South London,” it said. Born Vivieen Swire on April 8, 1941, she kept the name of her first husband, ...
-
News briefs
Ilse Jacobsen passes away
Ilse Rohde Jacobsen died on Oct. 23 at the age of 62. The Danish designer had been fighting cancer since last summer, according to a statement by her company IJH A/S. ”She fell asleep peacefully surrounded by her family,” the statement said. According to the daily B.T., Jacobsen was stricken ...
-
News briefs
Issey Miyake dies at 84
The Japanese designer Issey Miyake has died at the age of 84. Miyake was born in Hiroshima in 1938 and moved to Paris in the 1960s, where he worked with fashion designers Guy Laroche and Hubert de Givenchy. After moving to New York for a short time, he headed back ...
-
ArticleVito Artioli passes away
Vito Artioli passed away at the age of 85 in Tradate, north of Milan, where is located the family company Calzaturificio Star, a producer of luxury men’s footwear under the Artioli brand. Artioli was chairman of the Italian footwear association Assocalzaturifici, then called Anci, from 2007 to 2011 and headed ...
-
News briefs
Superfeet founder passes away
Dennis Brown, the founder of Northwest Podiatric Laboratory and Superfeet Worldwide, a leading American supplier of comfort insoles, died on Dec. 31 at his home in Blaine, Washington. He was 96 years old. He started Northwest Podiatric Laboratory in 1964, where he developed patented orthotic products and casting techniques. ...
-
News briefs
Pioneering footwear designer Armando Pollini dies at 85
Armando Pollini, a veteran footwear designer and entrepreneur, the founder of Armando Pollini Design and an avid experimenter who created many iconic shoe models, died of a heart attack on June 18 at the age of 85. Born in the Italian town of Vigevano, near Milan, in 1935, Pollini ...
-
News briefs
Vans sneaker company co-founder Paul Van Doren dies
Paul Van Doren, a co-founder of Vans, has passed away on May 6 at the age of 90, shortly after the publication of his biography, titled “Authentic.” He started as a service boy at a rubber factory at the age of 16. He acquired his independence in 1966 when he ...
-
News briefs
Alber Elbaz dies
Richemont announced the death of Alber Elbaz at the age of 59. In October 2019, the Swiss luxury goods company entered a joint venture with the designer which led to the creation of the brand AZ Factory. According to media reports, Elbaz died of Covid-19. Elbaz is best known for ...
