Profile of Fashion Designer

Roberto Cavalli

Italian designer Roberto Cavalli has made excess his trademark. Column dresses in silk chiffon printed with leaves and foliage. Worn-out jeans embroidered with gold and lace. Exquisitely tailored, colourful crocodile leather and rare animal skins. This Italian master has a real love affair going on with precious fabrics. And, as always, fur enjoys a starring role in his collections – both for men and women – in styles each more spectacular than the next.  View Roberto Cavalli's photos from the show Earlier this year, the Museo degli Argenti in Florence hosted this retrospective of one of its most prominent native sons, Roberto Cavalli, the designer who has cultivated a taste for excess over the course of more than three decades in fashion.The exhibition featured several graphic mink patchworks assembled to imitate wild feline fur. This is one of Cavalli's favourite patterns. It is one of the looks featured in the designer’s fall-winter collection, where he made abundant use of fox in collar trims and recreated the back of a wild animal on the backs of jackets. “I'm inspired by the fur of a wide variety of animals,” says this fur-lover, who has never deviated from his personal vision to follow the latest trends. Born into a family of artists in 1940, Cavalli followed family tradition and studied at the School of Fine Arts in Florence. That was when he acquired his love of colour and prints and a yearning to create without the expectation of immediate success or financial rewards. “I prefer dressing fewer women but making sure that they are really beautiful,” says the designer, who is married to a former Miss Universe and whose mission is to seduce women like any self-respecting Italian male - with his fashions. “I have never agreed with people who say a woman must dress like a businessman to be taken seriously. This attitude demeans femininity. And femininity is the most beautiful thing created by God.” In the early nineties, when fashion was all about minimalism, Roberto Cavalli was left somewhat on the fringes. Undaunted, he continued to create superb prints and sexy, cascading chiffon dresses. When the seventies revival hit the fashion scene a few years ago, Cavalli reclaimed his status as the Italian darling of fashion editors the world over… without changing a single thing. Very simply, he introduced a menswear line in the same style as his womenswear. Lenny Kravitz, Sting and Bono are already totally hooked. On the women's side, the VIP client list includes such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Mira Sorvino and Cindy Crawford, to name but a few. “I always encourage my clients to choose ‘the' garment that gives them a buzz,” explains the designer, who is fast becoming a star in the United States. And it's a sure bet that we'll be hearing more about him soon. His latest project is the launch of a couture collection and he is considering presenting his collections in Paris… Tune in for the sequel.