Italian Fashion Designer Roberto Cavalli Has Died At 83

The iconic Italian designer, Roberto Cavalli, known for melding bohemian prints with irresistible allure, passed away at the age of 83. The fashion house confirmed his death and sent their condolences to Cavalli's family. Sergio Azzolari, CEO of Roberto Cavalli, shared that the designer's legacy will continue to inspire and influence the industry.

When digital shows became more common in the early 2000s, Cavalli was already a well-respected fashion designer, even considered an elder in the field. He had a certain vibe about him, similar to Hefner but without the robe. In 2001, he even took his bow at the end of the runway while smoking a pipe. Fun fact: Cavalli was actually asked to redesign the Playboy bunny costume in 2005. Despite the challenges he faced, Cavalli was living his best life and achieved success through his confidence and intelligence. In a broader sense, his focus on the beauty of the body and sexuality in his designs could be seen as a celebration of the preciousness of life itself, something he understood from a young age to be fragile.

Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Italy in 1940. His grandfather was a member of the Italian Impressionist group, Macchiaioli. His father, who was an anti-fascist and worked as a mine surveyor, was killed by Nazi forces when Cavalli was three years old. This traumatic event caused Cavalli to develop a stutter. In a 2011 interview, Cavalli explained that speaking was difficult for him because of the shock. To support her family, his mother began sewing at home and hired seamstresses to assist her. At the age of 17, Cavalli enrolled in the Academy of Art in Florence to study art and architecture. It was there that he met the woman who would become his first wife and the mother of two of his children, Silvanella Giannoni. Despite his early struggles, Cavalli went on to become a confident and successful fashion designer.

Back in 1960, Cavalli was painting sweaters for a friend in the knitwear industry. He decided to try using floral prints on clothing, and soon he was applying these prints to existing garments. He taught himself textile printing techniques on a ping-pong table, but eventually moved on to a six-meter printing table that his mother bought for him in a rented garage. With some money from a friend, he managed to build his first factory. Unfortunately, the factory was destroyed by flooding in November of 1966, just before the Summer of Love. Despite this setback, Cavalli continued to embody the spirit of this era in his fashion and personal life for years to come.

The designer had a big moment of success after telling a lie to impress a girl. In an interview, he shared a story about crashing a party at Mario Valentino's house in 1970. A woman asked him what he did, and he lied and said he did prints on leather. The host asked to see his work, and he rose to the challenge by using his printing technique on thin glove leather, which was very impressive at the time. Hermès wanted to buy the exclusive rights to the technique. The designer was excited because he thought he could meet a lot of models if he designed one collection. This was always a goal of his.

Cavalli was a fashion designer who positioned himself at the centre of the social elite. In 1970, he opened a store called Limbo in Saint-Tropez, where he created trendy summer clothing that he referred to as "young, crazy, summer fashion". Actress Brigitte Bardot was one of his clients. Cavalli then went to Paris in the autumn to continue his work. He later added denim patchworking to his repertoire. In 1972, he presented his women's fashion line in Florence. After a business decline in the 1980s, Cavalli's wife Eva encouraged him to join Milan fashion week in 1994. The two met when he was a judge for the Miss Universe beauty contest, and she was Miss Austria.

Cavalli had a big success in 1993 when he made denim stretchy for a tight fit. He went on to become popular for designing clothes for famous people's appearances on red carpets, such as Jennifer Lopez and Victoria Beckham. During this time, Cavalli invited Fausto Puglisi to his home in Florence with his dog and parrots. Cavalli's fame was so big that he even appeared in the TV show Sex and the City, where one character fights over space in their closet and says, "It's Roberto Cavalli! I threw it out and I love it. What more do you want?"

The Cavalli brand has always been about excess and living life to the fullest. This attitude has been carried on by the current creative lead, Puglisi, and previous designer, Dundas. The founder of the brand, Roberto Cavalli, was a larger-than-life figure who left a beautiful mark on the fashion industry. His designs were bold, beautiful, and full of prints. He lived a colorful life that was impossible to ignore. His home in Florence was a vibrant mix of exotic animals, colorful furniture, prints, and religious icons. Cavalli believed in living life to the fullest and his passion for pleasure was contagious. His bright, bold, and body-confident approach to fashion is still relevant today.

Luke Leitch contributed to the reporting included in this blog post.