Only a few days left until the end of the year. Before 2023 is finally a thing of the past and a new chapter opens in 2024, FashionUnited offers a look back at all of the fashion icons who died this year. The past twelve months have delivered a lot of good news, but also brought with them sad moments and farewells.
January: Tatjana Patitz
In the 80s and 90s you could admire them on countless catwalks of important fashion designers and on the covers of international fashion magazines. The German model Tatjana Patitz died on January 11th at the age of 56. Patitz belonged to the first generation of supermodels, which also included greats such as the German Claudia Schiffer, the Canadian Linda Evangelista, the Americans Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford and the British Naomi Campbell.
February: Paco Rabanne
Dazzling and futuristic creations were Paco Rabanne Trademark. The Spanish fashion designer died on February 18th at the age of 88. Since his couture collection ‘Twelve Unwearable Dresses in Contemporary Materials’, he has been an integral part of the fashion world and, in addition to his iconic designs, is also known for the brand’s own perfume department.
March: Myriam Ullens de Schooten Whettnall
The month of March was overshadowed by a tragic death. The founder of the Belgian fashion brand Maison Ullens, Myriam Ullens de Schooten Whettnall, died on March 29th. She is said to have been shot dead by her stepson outside her home in Lasne, a French-speaking community in Belgium. The background to the crime is not yet known.
April: Mary Quant
No name screams ‘miniskirt’ like Mary Quant. The important figure in the British fashion world died on April 13th at the age of 93. As a fashion designer and businesswoman, she made a name for herself in London during the Swinging Sixties by popularizing the miniskirt. To this day, the shortened garment is considered an instrument of emancipation for Western women.
May: Slava Zaitsev
‘Red Dior’ or ‘Tsar of Soviet Fashion’ were the names the Western press gave to the Russian fashion designer Vyacheslav (Slava) Zaitsev. After a long illness, he died in May at the age of 85. The trained textile illustrator moved to Paris in the 1980s to create creations for the European audience. Costumes for theater, film and ice skating followed.
May: Valentin Yudashkin
The designer Valentin Yudashkin, who was the first Russian to be accepted into the French Syndicat de la Haute Couture, died on May 2 at the age of 59. His collections have been shown at Paris Fashion Week since the 1990s. In 2022, however, Yudashkin did not speak out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and lost his permanent place at the event in France’s capital.
May: Jean-Marc Gaucher
Brigitte Bardot already bought creations from the French ballet shoe and shoe manufacturer Repetto. The company’s owner, Jean-Marc Gaucher, died on May 9 at the age of 70. Gaucher took it over after the death of owner Rose Repetto for $18.8 million (16.9 million euros).
May: Jörg Wetzel
An unexpected death struck the managing director of the German shoe supplier Lloyd, Jörg Wetzel. At the end of May he died at the age of 53 during a stay in Liguria, Italy. Wetzel became part of the Lloyd company in 2016 and was responsible for the areas of finance, controlling, legal, human resources, logistics, IT and e-commerce.
June: Enric Casi
The Spanish clothing retailer Mango had to say goodbye to its managing director this year. Enri Casi, who held his position from 1996 to 2015, died in June at the age of 67. In 1983 he joined the company as a consultant, rose to senior positions and contributed significantly to its development. Even after Casi’s death, Mango is still up expansion course and announced in December that it planned to open almost 500 new stores by 2026.
July: Jane Birkin
She is one of the few celebrities who gave the name to an ‘It Bag’ and even helped design it. Frenchwoman Jane Birkinwho died on July 16 this year at the age of 76, left behind an important cultural legacy in the areas of music, film and, above all, fashion.
August: Shelley Smith
After studying psychology and leaving the glamor world, Shelley Smith became quiet. The American model, who significantly shaped the fashion landscape of the 1970s and 1980s, died on August 8th at the age of 70. During her career she graced countless covers of fashion magazines and even ventured into the film world.
September: Marc Bohan
Marc Bohan has already dressed American film stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly. The French fashion designer and artistic director of Dior died in September at the ripe old age of 97. Numerous stars were among the clientele during his 30-year career at the French luxury fashion house.
September: Harro Uwe
Harro Uwe was the managing director of the Düsseldorf fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg for many years. In 1986 he joined the company’s management and took over the management from his father James Cloppenburg Junior. A few years ago he retired from the business, but remained with the company as a partner. Uwe died on September 28th at the age of 82.
October: Gloria Dodenhof
The German fashion industry lost another important personality Gloria Dodenhof. After her marriage to Hermann Dodenhof, she joined the family business of the same name and took over the women’s clothing department. The entrepreneur paid particular attention to expanding the fashion department at Dodenhof and helped design a comprehensive shopping center.
November: Charles Piaget
The French trade unionist Charles Piaget was considered a symbolic figure of the workers’ self-management movement. During a social conflict involving the French watch manufacturer Lip in the 1970s, he made a name for himself as an activist. He died on November 5th at the age of 96.
November: Jörg Bucherer
The man who died in November also came from the watch business Jörg Bucherer. As a Swiss billionaire and owner of the watch and jewelry store of the same name, he had run Bucherer AG since 1977. However, in August he agreed to sell his company to the Geneva-based luxury watch manufacturer Rolex.
November: Davide Renne
The untimely death of a designer shocked the industry in November. The Italian creative director of Moschino, David Renne, died suddenly on November 10th at the age of 46. After starting out at the Florentine fashion house Gucci, he worked for Moschino, the subsidiary of the French luxury goods group Kering, for almost 20 years. Most recently, he was supposed to succeed the American and creative director Jeremy Scott.
December: Lorenzo Riva
The preference of the Italian fashion designer Lorenzo Riva was aimed at bridal and haute couture creations. After selling the majority of his brand to an Italian production company in 2012, he died in December of that year.
This article was created with the help of Sharon Camara and Heide Halama and was partially translated from French.