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ROME (AP) - Sergio Loro Piana, who helped build a six-generation, family-run textile firm into the eponymous luxury brand recently bought by French conglomerate LVMH, has died at age 65.
People close to the family said Loro Piana died Friday, just two weeks after LVMH's 2 billion euro ($2.7 billion) purchase of the textile house was completed.
The company, which Loro Piana co-ran with his brother Pier Luigi, is known for its cashmere and vicuna wool clothing _ a coat can fetch $20,000.
Loro Piana, based in Italy's northern Piedmont region, is so particular about its supply chain that it bought its own natural reserve in Peru's mountains to protect the endangered vicuna that yields the precious wool.
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