AFPRoberto Cavalli in 2013
NOS Nieuws•vrijdag, 22:05
Fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has passed away. He died at the age of 83 at home in Florence, the place where he was born in 1940. Cavalli had been ill for some time, Italian media report.
Ten years ago he stopped as creative director of the fashion house he founded, which sells luxury clothing and perfume. The brand is known for extravagant designs, printed leather and jeans with worn spots. Big names like Beyoncé, Cindy Crawford and Mariah Carey were featured in Cavalli’s creations.
The Italian, grandson of a painter, had a troubled childhood because his father was killed by the Nazis in 1944. As a result, he had concentration problems and suffered from stuttering, but nevertheless completed his studies at the art academy in Florence.
Good luck with animal prints
Roberto Cavalli focused on printing leather and wrote later that he didn’t know exactly where to start creating a fashion line. He presented his first collection in Paris in the early 1970s. He opened his first boutique in Saint-Tropez, where actress Brigitte Bardot was one of his regular customers.
The Italian achieved new success in the 1990s thanks to his extensive use of animal prints. His creations, including leopard, snake and crocodile print, went all over the world. The fashion house quotes Cavalli’s obituary as: Instagram: “I copy an animal’s clothes because I love copying God. I think God is the most amazing designer ever.”
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A design by Cavalli in 2006
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Animal print heels, in 2010
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Cavalli was known for his eccentric designs
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A creation by Cavalli on the catwalk in Milan in 2014
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Cavalli and his then wife Eva during Milan Fashion Week in 2005
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Cavalli met actress Sharon Stone
Because of his lavish designs, Cavalli was more than once compared to the designer Gianni Versace, who was murdered in 1997. Both fashion houses also had a successful collaboration with H&M, for which they launched a designer collection at affordable prices.
The fashion house Roberto Cavalli encountered financial difficulties in 2019. The brand’s American stores were closed. Later that year, the fashion house was acquired by Damac, the investment company of Emirati businessman Hussain Sajwani. In 2020, designer Fausto Puglisi was appointed as creative director.
Purple helicopter
Even following his retirement, Cavalli led an eccentric lifestyle. For example, he owned a purple helicopter and a vineyard in Tuscany and had a penchant for Ferraris and big cigars. His yacht, Freedom, had an interior designed by himself, of course with animal prints.
“We will not forget his genius and unconditional love for Florence,” writes the mayor of Florence on X. “He left his mark on the contemporary language of Italian fashion.”
Cavalli had six children and was married twice. In recent years he lived with his Swedish partner Sandra Nilsson, 45 years his junior, who became the mother of their youngest child last year: Giorgio. That son was named following his deceased father.