This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.

As a teenager, Sergio Rossi and his brother, the sons of a bespoke shoemaker, would travel up and down the Italian Riviera selling shoes in the years after World War II, as the country was rebuilding.

Mr. Rossi fully joined the family business in the 1950s and by 1968 had introduced a namesake line, becoming one of the first major figures in the Italian footwear industry

Mr. Rossi died on Thursday in Cesena, Italy at 84. The cause was the coronavirus, a spokeswoman for the company that carries his name said.

Mr. Rossi was part of the generation of Italian artisans who emerged after World War II determined to take the country’s expertise in leatherwork and accessories from local family businesses to the world.