REST IN PEACE: RTFKT Co-Founder Benoit Pagotto Has Passed Away At The Age Of 41

It is a somber day around the swamp and across the Web3 world after news broke that RTFKT Co-Founder Benoit Pagotto has passed away at the age of 41.

On Sunday, crypto investor and friend of Benoit, Philippe Rodriguez, shared a post on LinkedIn announcing the untimely death of the designer and founder.

 

“Benito is gone,” he wrote. “This morning, I learned of the sudden death of my client and friend, Benoit Pagotto Founder of the RTFKT Studios sold three years ago to Nike. He will remain the entrepener, super creative, discreet, and humble. Passionate but always reasonable, he inspired as much as he sought inspiration from others. he believed that beauty could change the world. Benoit had proven it by animating a community that stretched from the West Coast of the United States to Japan. Which is no small feat for a young Frenchman. The famous magazine Business of Fashion named him one of the 500 personalities who were shaking up fashion. He had rubbed shoulders with everything that matters in luxury, fashion and digital... Benoit saw things before others named them and lived them. My thoughts are with his partner Malika, his family, his loved ones and his associates. We will miss you Benito.”

 

 

Benoit started his career in retail and always had a flair for fashion. In 2020, he co-founded RTFKT and began experimenting with virtual sneakers, collaborating with artists like Jeff Staple and Takashi Murakami. In November 2021, RTFKT and Murakami released their NFT project Clone X, and by December, Benoit had sold the company to Nike.

Following the news of his death, Web3 founders, NFT holders, and others across the space took to the timeline to reflect on their memories with Benoit in this crazy corner of the internet.

“Benoit was one of the kindest, funniest people I met in crypto,” Yuga Labs CEO Garga tweeted. “Reached out when we were nobodies, just offering advice and seeing how he could help. You got the feeling he was that way with everyone. And when things took off for us, he was always the same. Not transactional, not a little parasite. Just wanted to make cool things. I wish that wasn’t so painfully rare here, but it is. Any time I was in Paris for work, no matter what else he had going on, he’d make time to hang and share war stories. He knew better than most how absurd this space could be. Will miss his big, boisterous laugh you could hear from across a restaurant. Heartbroken for his family.”

 

 

The Bored Ape Gazette is keeping Benoit, his family, and his friends in our thoughts and prayers during this tragic time.