Herman Bott, 74, a well-respected senior human resources executive in the apparel industry, died Thursday.
The cause of death was pancreatic cancer.
A graduate of Long Island University with a bachelor of science in management, Bott had a long career working in the apparel industry. He started as personnel manager of Alexander’s department store, and went on to become director of executive development at Gertz and vice president of human resources at Bonwit Teller. He then switched to the wholesale side of the business, becoming senior vice president, human resources at Bidermann Industries. From there, he did executive placement at Tommy Hilfiger and started his own human resources company, Tribeca Twenty-First Group Inc., of which he was chairman from 1989 until his death. Over the past 14 years, Bott also became a life coach, earning a certificate from Columbia University, in addition to teaching at Parsons The New School for Design.
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“Herman was the go-to man for so many people for so many years,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “He was solid as a rock and he gave so many retail and fashion executives great advice and direction. He was very experienced and really knew quite a bit about every aspect of the business. He was a gentle giant —very calm and very intelligent.”
“He embodied what human resources represented in the early days,” said Ken Sitomer, chief executive officer of Skin, who worked with Bott when Sitomer was ceo of Bidermann. “He was well respected for his abilities, as well as being liked as a human being.”
Joel Horowitz, cochairman of Diane von Furstenberg, and former chairman and ceo of Tommy Hilfiger Corp., said his relationship with Bott was 99 percent personal and 1 percent professional. As husband to Bubbles Bott, who at the time was Hilfiger’s executive vice president of production and sourcing, “[Herman] was a very supportive person for her, which made her relationship with Tommy and me really gel,” Horowitz said.
“He was just the most humble and cerebral person. He was such a stabilizing person to talk with. He was someone you could talk to about anything. His outlook on life was so passive, and he would always calm you,” said Horowitz.
But, he said, there was another side of Bott’s personality, which was a Hells Angel.
“He was a big motorcycle guy. I remember when he turned 50 years old, he got a big tattoo on his arm. He wanted to do that his whole life and go cruising with his Harley,” said Horowitz.
In addition to motorcycling, Bott’s other hobbies were hunting, traveling and being an amateur chef.
He is survived by his wife, Bubbles, executive vice president of Mesh Brands, a division of Global Brands Group; daughter, Nisha Chisena and her husband, Aaron; son, Nikhil and his wife, Katrina; grandchildren Caden, Lyla and Giuliana, as well as his brother, Donald.
A service will be held Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home at 1076 Madison Avenue in New York. Contributions can be made in Bott’s memory to support Dr. Maeve Lowery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.