Ed Filipowski, Cochairman of KCD and Fashion-Industry Champion, Has Died

Ed Filipowski, one of the fashion industry’s most powerful, dedicated, and kind public relations men, has died. He was 58 years old.

Filipowski was the cochairman, with Julie Mannion, of KCD Worldwide, a fashion-services firm that in its 35-year history has represented the industry’s biggest names, among them Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Givenchy, Maison Margiela, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, and Versace.

Filipowski joined the company in the mid ’80s when it was still Keeble Cavaco & Duka, a PR firm named after its founders, the late stylist Kezia Keeble, editor Paul Cavaco, and the late John Duka, a writer for the New York Times. Keeble, the story goes, hired the 20-something Filipowski when he sent her a bouquet of flowers in a Charivari bag, congratulating her for landing the buzzy boutique as an account. He and Mannion inherited the company after Keeble and Duka died in 1989 and 1990, respectively, and Cavaco joined Harper’s Bazaar in 1992.

Filipowki’s tenure at KCD coincided with vast changes in the fashion industry, and under his leadership the company established new divisions. Its runway-show and event-production arm produces shows in New York, London, Milan, and Paris, as well as the CFDA Awards, the Tonys, and the Costume Institute Gala. A digital division was launched in 2010, and an entertainment and technology division followed 2016. A year later Filipowski and Mannion elevated eight senior employees to partners with ownership stakes in the company.

Throughout it all, Filipowski remained a true champion of designers young and established and a tireless booster for the industry. At each and every fashion show KCD produced—there must’ve been thousands of them—Filipowski stationed himself on the runway, greeting his editorial and retail colleagues by first name before heading backstage, where he was just as familiar and friendly with the players, to ensure a flawless production. “Anyone who ever had the privilege of working with Ed knew he was far more than a particularly brilliant public relations executive,” said Anna Wintour, Vogue editor in chief and artistic director of Condé Nast. “Thanks to his terrific sense of loyalty, he was always able to make kindness and respect central to every single thing he did. Ed became godfather to so many designers over the years, from the great and the good to those who were just starting out—he did so much for our Fashion Funders—and he treated each and every one of them the same way: totally supportive and unflinchingly honest. I think of the way he stood by John [Galliano], giving him the very best advice and being a steadfast presence in life. But then Ed was always the first to pick up the phone and ask what he could do to help. And help he always did. For someone who preferred to be behind the scenes, he was at the center of absolutely everything.”