* Etienne Aigner; Designer of Leather Accessories

Etienne Aigner, 95, whose leather accessories adorned with an omega-shaped logo helped define the preppy style of the 1960s and ‘70s. Born in Hungary, Aigner began working with leather while he was a youth. He and his brother Lucien, a noted photojournalist, moved to Paris in the 1930s, and Aigner made a living binding books. He fought in the French resistance against the Nazis in World War II. He then began making handbags and belts, attracting the attention of fashion houses such as Dior, Jacques Fath and Molyneux, who bought and used his designs. He moved to New York, and while working out of his apartment, he began producing belts in the dark red color that would become his trademark. By the mid-1950s, high-end department stores began to display his belts and bags, and orders poured in from across the country. He sold the line in 1967. When it was ultimately acquired by Jonathan Logan, a dress manufacturer, the Etienne Aigner brand grew substantially. On Nov. 5 in New York, three days before his 96th birthday.