August 14 - Jesus del Pozo, one of Spain's most influential fashion designers, has died of lung failure at the age of 64, the Spanish Fashion Designers' Association said Sunday.

Spanish designer Jesus del Pozo greets the audience after the presentation of his collection at the Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week, 20 September 2010. - photo: corbis

Del Pozo, who was one of the most prominent figures at Madrid's Pasarela Cibeles annual fashion week, died Saturday in the Spanish capital.

"A man of character. Such was the Madrid designer Jesus del Pozo, a noble man who was always forging ahead," association chairman Modesto Lomba said in the El Mundo daily.

He described del Pozo as "one of the stalwarts of fashion designing in our country, who since the advent of democracy was able to revive an almost non-existent industry, thanks to a lot of work and efforts."

Jesus del Pozo opened his first shop in Madrid in 1974, before the fall of former dictator Franco, and had his first show two years later in Paris.