Roberto Cavalli passed away at the age of 83. The designer, who officially left the scene about ten years ago, had been having health problems for some time, but up until now this had never stopped him from enjoying life to the fullest, as he had always done. In March 2023 he had in fact announced the birth of his sixth child, had with his partner Sandra Bergman Nilsson, 38 years old ex-Miss Sweden and with him for 15 years. She wanted to call him Giorgio, in honor of her father, the child’s grandfather. Not only that: a few weeks later you also announced that you had acquired one of the most famous nightclubs in Italy, the Pineta in Milano Marittima. So, regardless of everything, Cavalli didn’t have the slightest desire to stop.
A joy of living, his, which also determined his success in fashion. And what happened: at the end of the nineties the world went crazy for his colourful, provocative collections, so rich as to be decadent. Embroidery, animal prints, corsets, very small minis, trousers with waists bordering on decency. For Cavalli, too much is never enough. «Excess is sometimes synonymous with success, as long as you do something different, special, sexy», he loved to repeat. «All women love to be sexy, and I want to help them be sexy. There are women who are perhaps intimidated, but I want all of them to know that a dress can really change your life.” In her case, that was the case. And if at the time not everyone loved (and understood) his over-the-top style, today the Cavalli aesthetic is in the limelight like never before, with the vintage market going crazy for his original garments.
It is also true that Roberto Cavalli’s life has always been over the top, often not by choice. The designer was born on 15 November 1940 in Florence. His childhood was marked by the tragic death of his father Giorgio, killed in 1944 by the Wehrmacht, the German troops, during the Cavriglia massacre. As he grew up, the stylist revealed an inclination for art – his maternal uncle, Giuseppe Rossi, was a famous Macchiaiolo whose works are preserved in the Uffizi -. He therefore studied at the state art institute in Florence, and there he became passionate about dyeing fabric, specializing. He is young, enthusiastic and talented: still a student, his floral prints on a sweater attracted the attention of several sock and tights manufacturers. But he wants to start his own business and, he says, revolutionize the sector. And so he does. At the beginning of the Seventies, just thirty years old, he patented a revolutionary method for printing leather, his favorite material ever since, which led him as a rookie to collaborate with Pierre Cardin and Hermès. From there, it’s an explosion of abraded, colored and embroidered fabrics, perfect for the era of hippie chic. He showed at Palazzo Pitti, opened his first boutique in Saint Tropez in 1972, married his first love Silvanella Giannoni in 1964, and with her he had his first two children, Tommaso and Cristiana.
He saw his company prosper, gaining a place in the limelight among specialists in the sector, but the real leap in quality came when, after divorcing Silvanella, he met his second wife, Eva Duringer, in 1977. He meets her at the Miss Universe pageant: he is a judge, she represents Austria in the pageant. A relationship theoretically prohibited by the regulations, but Cavalli has always been intolerant of the rules. He and Eva immediately fell in love, got married in 1980 and together they had 3 children, Robert, Rachele and Daniele. But, beyond private life, Eva proves to be a formidable creative partner: thanks to her the designer, who in the meantime had decided to give up clothing to dedicate himself to horse breeding, decides to retrace his steps, and to do so by focusing on his collection. Her second professional life thus began in 1994, when she launched her aged, faded and colored jeans treated with the sandblasting technique (a treatment judged 20 years later to be harmful to the health of workers).
His pieces are very popular, but after a few years it was the legendary director of Vogue Italia Franca Sozzani who gave him the push needed to enter the fashion Olympus, who together with stylist Anna Dello Russo completely redesigned his image. More colors, more outrageous party dresses, more prints. More fashion. His advertising campaigns photographed by Steve Hiett with a very young girl Maria Carla Boscano dominate the panorama of metropolises, the stars can’t seem to do without their clothes: Beyoncé, Cindy Crawford, who has become a friend and muse like Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Victoria Beckham and her husband David. Again, the leader of Aerosmith Steven Tyler and Lenny Kravitz, who convinced him that his version of the hippie on steroids would also be very popular with men, thus pushing him to launch a men’s line too. His pharaonic shows, with the most beautiful models and the most spectacular sets, are the most coveted of the Milanese fashion shows. In 2002, the Just Cavalli Café opened in Milan in the Branca Tower, in the middle of Sempione Park, which immediately became a destination for footballers, stars, starlets and those, many, who dream of being elbow to elbow with them.
And he is at the center of all this, amused and sly. To those who ask him why he loves animal prints so much, he explains: «I like nature: I realized that all animals have a beautiful “dress”. The fish, the snakes, the tigers, all of them. I understood that God is an extraordinary stylist: and therefore, I copy from him.” In 2007 he was the protagonist of a collaboration with H & M which sold like hot cakes, and in 2012 he also published his autobiography. He introduces her to Milan together with Eva – with whom he remains very close despite having separated in the meantime – and Matteo Renzi, a great friend of his. But, although the turnover works, the brand begins to report increasingly greater losses: as always happens in fashion, tastes go on in cycles. His cheeky clothes no longer surprise as they once did, and for this reason in 2014 the family sold the majority of the brand to the Clessidra fund. It ended very badly, with the group filing for bankruptcy in 2019. Clessidra was then replaced by Vision Investment Co. of Dubai, which already took care of the real estate projects signed by the brand: there was talk of a return in style for the designer, but he prefers to remain aloof. Relatively on the sidelines, in reality, because Cavalli continues to make himself heard, of course. Accustomed as he is to always saying what he thinks, he ends up entangled in more than one controversy via social media with various influencers – first of all Chiara Ferragni, who the designer accuses of being neither spontaneous nor “true” -, a category that precisely he doesn’t like it. But, verbal skirmishes aside, it is his vision of fashion made for fun that remains.
Today the collection is designed by Fausto Puglisi, in love with colors, shapes and sensuality as much as he is. His updated version of the brand, combined with the reborn passion among younger people for the fashion of the early 2000s has returned the brand to a leading role. Exactly how he wanted.
The legacy and condolences of the fashion house that bears his name
Roberto Cavalli becomes a father again at 82 years old. Giorgio was born
“Dear Roberto, you may no longer be physically here with us, but I know that I will always feel your spirit with me. It is the greatest honor of my career to work following your legacy and create for the brand you founded with such vision and style. Rest in peace, you will be missed and loved by so many that your name will continue, a beacon of inspiration to others, and especially to me,” he says Fausto Puglisi, Creative Director of Roberto Cavalli since October 2020.
“The Roberto Cavalli company shares its condolences for the loss of Mr. Cavalli’s family. His legacy remains a constant source of inspiration.” announces Sergio Azzolari, CEO of Roberto Cavalli.
#Goodbye #Roberto #Cavalli #designer #loved #women #sexy #intimidated #dress #change #life
– 2024-04-12 21:00:29
