PARIS — Catalan designer Antonio Miró, a leading figure in Spain’s fashion industry, has died at 74, local authorities said.
“Saddened by the death of Toni Miró, one of the great references of Catalan fashion. The footprint he leaves inside and outside our country, with his creativity and a unique signature, is unforgettable,” Pere Aragonès, head of Catalonia’s regional government, wrote on Twitter.
Born in Sabadell near Barcelona, the son of a tailor, Miró opened his first store, Groc, in 1968 at the age of 20, helping to establish the city as a beacon for design. He went on to launch his brand in 1979, showing his women’s and men’s designs in fashion capitals including Paris, New York City, Milan and Tokyo.
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Miró entertained strong links with the worlds of cinema and theater, designing costumes for films including “Caniche,” directed by Bigas Luna, and Gonzalo Herralde’s “La muerte del escorpión.” A high moment of international visibility came when he designed the uniforms for the ceremonies of the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.
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Miró was also active in interior design, creating the curtain for the refurbished Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house in Barcelona and the interiors for a boutique hotel in Bilbao. Fans of his minimalist style included George Harrison, John Malkovich, Ricardo Bofill, Bigas Luna, Alejandro Sanz, Pep Guardiola and Daniel Brühl.
In 1990, he joined forces with Italy’s Ermenegildo Zegna in a joint venture, going on to sell a majority stake in his company in 2008 to Spanish group Nuevos Valores Textiles. The company filed for bankruptcy in May 2021.
The designer won several prestigious prizes, including the Cristóbal Balenciaga award in 1987. Miró died on Thursday after suffering a heart attack, according to local media.
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