Roberto Cavalli has no time for shyness or subtleties. His clothes are loud, bright and fearless. His women are bold, sexy and powerful. He is unfiltered, unapologetic and enthusiastic. His innovative techniques especially involving silk and leather and his unparalleled love for adornments – appliqué, diamante, embroidery and patchwork – have made him a bone-fide red carpet darling. Beyond that, Cavalli’s designs embody the ultra-glamourous, super-sexy, jet-set, haute-Euro lifestyle. We take a look at the man and the brand behind the clothes.
Roberto Cavalli was born on November 15, 1940 in Florence, Tuscany. Born to a legacy of famous painters and artists in the family, it was in his dreams to follow in their footsteps. Cavalli’s father died in the war when he was three years old and he stuttered as a child before finding his confidence. Even as a young student, Cavalli’s potential was readily apparent, making a series of flower prints on knit that caught the eye of major Italian hosiery companies. Cavalli began to truly hit his stride in the late ‘60s in Florence, inventing a new and revolutionary method of printing on leather and creating patchworks of different materials. In 1970 Cavalli made his runway debut at the salon for Prêt-à-Porter in Paris, featuring leather evening gowns and swimsuits. His flamboyant Italian style caught on and a short two years later, he opened his first boutique in Saint-Tropez. In 1994, Cavalli presented his first sandblasted jeans in Milan and by the end of that year he had launched several boutiques around the world. Today, he designs for his menswear line, his secondary youth oriented line Just Cavalli, as well as the Angels & Devils Children Collection and a range of underwear, shoes, eyewear, watches and perfume lines, all under the Cavalli name. All things considered, Cavalli now sits pretty atop an empire with an estimated worth of well over $1 billion.
Like most great designers, Cavalli, dubbed “the king of excess,” has been a genius at melding the personal with the professional and the man with the brand. The decadent, glamorous lifestyle – picture endless summers on huge yachts, fast cars and private plane, sun kissed skin, champagne fountains and gold on everything – carries over to the brand which millions flock to for a taste of the luxe over-the-top lifestyle. Of course the image wouldn’t be complete without a celebrity or two and Cavalli’s relationship with A-listers from the entertainment world is mythic. It hasn’t been summer without paparazzi shots of Cavalli entertaining various celebs from the Beckhams to Mariah Carey on his 140-foot yacht, moored in the glittering locales of the likes of Cannes and Saint-Tropez. Cavalli designs are erotic, bold and confident and this philosophy or aesthetic approach extends well beyond his line for women. Cavalli has done it all from launching his menswear line, RC Menswear and his youth directed line, Just Cavalli in 1998.
Another facet of the Cavalli legend is his well documented passion for women and the creation of the ‘Cavalli woman’. His first female celebrity ambassador – often credited with putting the brand on the international fashion map – was Brigitte Bardot. In her footsteps have followed numerous powerful and sexy women such as Kate Moss, Gisele Bundchen, Sharon Stone and Jennifer Lopez. A self-proclaimed feminist, Cavalli is not shy about where he draws his inspiration from and his admiration for women, declaring to CNN that “maybe I am the only man in the world who says the woman is stronger than the man, the woman has more personality in the world than the man, because the woman is my muse”. Elaborating on the subject of muses, he tells Interview, “my muse has always been the sexy, glamorous, sophisticated woman who exudes confidence. If anything, the Cavalli woman has become more free-spirited recently. She is still sexy but has more of a bohemian element to her”. He loves designing for women and they love wearing his designs.
Of course, one could hardly mention Cavalli and women and not mention his wife and partner, Eva Düringer in the same breath. The pair met when Cavalli was judging the Miss Universe Pageant in 1977 and Düringer was competing as Miss Austria. It was kismet and they have been married for over 35 years. Based on this duo, it seems that the secret to maintaining a healthy relationship is to share similar passions. Although, Cavalli tells Harper’s Bazaar that he didn’t know when they met that “working in the fashion world would become the biggest love of her life”, today the pair design the Cavalli collection together and take their bow as a duo each season. As for whether or not there is ever conflict in this personal-slash-working relationship, Cavalli is quick to answer in the negative, stating “she’s wonderful. She loves my taste, I love her taste. We never fight over the collection”.
To go along with his bold designs, Cavalli doesn’t shy away from causing a bit of a stir with his statements and has been known to say some truly outlandish things as well as verbally taking on some of fashion’s crème de la crème. In the realm of head-scratchers, Cavalli once claimed to Vogue UK that he was the only straight man in fashion and that his sexual orientation made him a better designer. This boldness extends to critiquing American fashion and daring to go up against head fashion tastemaker, vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour. As he tells it to Italian magazine D. La Repubblica, American fashion is “terrible and you almost can’t even look at it, but it has been driven by a great journalist, Anna Wintour, who wants all women to be like her and to dress the way she does”. Though, like other notoriously loose-lipped fashion designers (here’s looking at you Karl Lagerfeld) he does manage to throw a compliment in with his barbs. Not done of the subject of American fashion, Cavalli unloaded on Michael Kors in a mini rant to Miami’s Haute Living magazine, accusing the latter of copying his designs. As he states “[Michael Kors is] one of the biggest copy designers in the world. I just want to tell him to stop copying me! Stop! All the time I write those comments on Instagram. He copies everybody! And Americans like Michael Kors! And you love so many other designers who do that—he’s not American fashion. He is international fashion made in America. It’s not fair. The American women, they all dress the same.” It’s fair bet to say that we can look forward to more unfiltered thoughts coming our way courtesy of Cavalli soon.
Although it was reported in April of 2008 that Cavalli was looking for buyers of the business, no one was reportedly game enough to take on the Cavalli empire. Cavalli unofficially retired in 2015, selling ninety percent of the business to private Italian equity firm Clessidra for an undisclosed (though rumoured to be in the realm of $430 million) price tag and selecting Peter Dundas as his natural successor to head designer for the label. This move did not come a moment too soon as flagging revenue forced the sale of the brand’s Rue Saint-Honoré store and called for a reboot at the label. Some of the blame for the downturn could be attributed to the global stalling luxury sector but may also be placed at the feet of Cavalli, as consumers developed a weariness for Cavilli’s flashy and overtly sexy high-heels and leopard-print style. At the time, Dundas’ vision promised a more contemporary take on the Cavalli glamour and sex aesthetic. Broadening the label’s appeal to younger and cooler demographics was part of a deliberate strategy to increase its global reach and gain more stable footing in a changing and difficult market. Thus the Cavalli woman relocated from the European yacht marinas to the backstages of Coachella and Tomorrowland. Dundas’ collection were received with mixed results. His leadership of Cavalli lasted just over eighteen months and Dundas departed the fashion house in October 2016. As for what’s next at Cavalli? We’ll be waiting to find out.
To read more about Cavalli check out FIB’s Masters of Fashion vol. 34 Italians, available now at Amazon and all good book stores!
Check out FIB’s Special Feature Film on Cavalli here!
