Jean-Marc Gaucher, President and owner of Repetto, passed away on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 in Paris at the age of 70, the family announced in a statement released on Thursday. A self-taught French entrepreneur, Gaucher acquired the struggling shoe company from Dordogne in 1999, eventually transforming it into a luxury and dance brand known for its ballerina shoes and globally renowned.
“With great sadness, we announce the sudden passing of Jean-Marc. Jean-Marc was a lover of life. He lived it with passion, talent, and all his visionary qualities,” his wife said in the statement. Born in Montreuil in 1953, Gaucher quit school at 15 years old. He loved sports, particularly long-distance running, and caught the eye of Reebok’s owner, who offered him exclusive rights to distribute the brand’s products throughout France. In 1994, he became CEO of Reebok France and vice-president of Reebok International.
In 1999, he had the opportunity to take over the dance shoe brand created in 1947 by Rose Repetto, which was then in severe financial difficulties, and turned it into an internationally renowned brand known for its French expertise. It was designated as a “Living Heritage Company” in 2013.
To turn Repetto into a desirable brand, Jean-Marc Gaucher collaborated with major fashion names such as Issey Miyake in 2000, Yohji Yamamoto in 2002, Comme des Garçons in 2004, and Karl Lagerfeld in 2009. He also diversified the offering with leather goods and textiles.
In 2007, to celebrate Repetto’s 60th anniversary, Jean-Marc Gaucher created the Dance for Life Foundation. An international initiative, its goal is to support dance schools by promoting the reintegration of underprivileged children through artistic expression.
In 2012, Jean-Marc Gaucher inaugurated the Repetto leather craft training school near its factory in Saint-Medard-d’Excideuil, Dordogne, where the famous technique of the “stitched-and-turned” of their dance shoes is taught. To this day, the school has trained more than 600 apprentices in various leatherworking trades. For several years, Jean-Marc Gaucher had relied on his daughter Charlotte Gaucher-Holmann to assist him and prepare for the future. At the beginning of 2022, while remaining President of Repetto, he established a new governance structure by appointing Laurence Lévy as CEO alongside his daughter, who was promoted to Deputy CEO. Charlotte Gaucher-Holmann now takes over from her father as President of Repetto, which has roughly a hundred stores worldwide, including 20 in France.
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