Obituary: Office co-founder David Casey

Born in London in 1946, Casey started his career in the late 1960s making leather belts and bags, which he sold at west London's Portobello Market.

He opened his first store on Charing Cross Road in the late 1970s. Fascias on Kensington Market, Portobello Road, Oxford Street and Carnaby Street soon followed, targeting a younger consumer interested in unique footwear styles: espadrilles, kung-fu slippers and plimsolls.

It was in the process of fitting out Casey's footwear stand inside designer indoor market Hyper Hyper, across the road from Kensington Market, that one of his employees, Richard Wharton, came up with the name 'Office', inspired by the use of second-hand desks and swivel chairs.

In 1986, Casey and Wharton opened the first permanent Office store on Kensington High Street. At the time based in Neasden, north-west London, with his wife Liz, Casey sourced footwear from east London and the north of England. The success of Office led to the retailer opening concessions inside premium department stores Harvey Nichols and Selfridges, as well as young fashion destination Topshop, at the time known as Top Shop.

Tapping into the rise of 'sneaker culture', Casey and Wharton opened the UK's first dedicated trainers retailer on Covent Garden's Neal Street in 1995, known as Offspring. Casey expanded his footwear empire to designer footwear concepts Poste and Poste Mistress.

After offloading Office and Offspring in 2003 to Sir Tom Hunter's West Coast Capital for £15m, Casey went on to start a small chain of high-end footwear boutiques under the name Author, while his business partner Wharton launched his own footwear consultancy business.

Wharton told Drapers: "Casey was a one-off: a vibrant , passionate maverick, who touched the lives of many and created a unique groundbreaking brand in Office and Offspring, Poste and Poste Mistress.

"He embraced every moment with enthusiasm, often found enjoying a pint of Guinness or a glass of whiskey, dancing to the Pogues and the [Rolling] Stones, and reveling in the nightlife of London, Dusseldorf, Vegas, Alicante.

"David’s vibrant personality, creativity, and zest for life will be deeply missed by all who knew him," he added.

Casey is survived by his wife Liz, adult children Daniel and Dawn, as well as grandchildren.