Roberto Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli
Born	(1940-11-15) November 15, 1940 Florence, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Label	Cavalli

Roberto Cavalli (born November 15 1940) is an Italian fashion designer.

Biography

Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence on November 15, 1940, in a richly artistic environment: his grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a prolific member of the Macchiaioli Movement, whose work is exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery. Faithful to the family tradition, but equipped with a free and rebellious spirit, the young Cavalli decided to enrol at the local Art Institute, choosing to specialise in textile print. Whilst still a student, he made a series of flower prints on knit that immediately caught the attention of some major Italian hosiery factories. This is how Roberto Cavalli’s journey into fashion got started.

Inventive and fiercely individualistic, Roberto Cavalli likes innovations and experimentations, and likes to push technique to the limit. At the beginning of the 70s, he invented and patented a revolutionary printing procedure on leather, and started creating his now-famous patchworks of different materials. He chose Paris as the ideal arena to showcase his inventions, immediately getting commissions from the likes of Hermès and Pierre Cardin. But Roberto Cavalli had far grander ambitions: in 1970, at the age of thirty, he presented his first namesake collection at the Salon for Prêt-à-Porter in Paris, successively coming back to Italy on the wave of success. He brought on the catwalks of the Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and later on those of Milano Collezioni, the most unusual creations: precious jeans made of printed denim, intarsia leathers, brocade and wild prints. He created glamorous and dreamy clothing for the modern, emancipated woman. This revolutionary style was immediately appreciated by the international jet set: the fashion designer opened his first boutique in 1972 in Saint-Tropez, then the epicentre of good living and a favourite destination for the demi-monde.

In 1980 Roberto Cavalli married Eva Duringer, who’s been his lifelong companion and his inseparable business right hand ever since. At the beginning of the 90s, after some time spent concentrating of family and race-horse breeding, the couple went back to business, immediately gaining new success. The first show of the new course was held in Milan in 1994: Cavalli presented the first sand-blasted jeans, an immediate hit. Already by December of the same year he opened boutiques in Saint Barth, in the French Caribbean, and then in Venice and again in Saint-Tropez. What was a fad quickly became a trend and eventually a cult. Roberto Cavalli created a highly idiosyncratic style, a style all his own that transcends mere fashion to turn into a way of being and living. The Cavalli vision is free and glamorous: a siren’s chant for stars as well as common people. Focused on details as well as on the whole image, he likes to play with excesses, opposing and balancing them in a new harmony. Roberto Cavalli creates his vibrant patterns by using the most advanced technologies, but he gets his inspiration from nature. He travels the world with a digital camera in hand, ready to capture whatever catches his attention and transform it into a new motif, a glowing print or a sparkling embroidery.

Besides the mainline, which is sold in over fifty countries worldwide, Roberto Cavalli designs RC Menswear and then the younger line Just Cavalli, launched in 1998 and comprising today both men’s and women’s wear and then accessories, eyewear, watches, perfumes, underwear and beachwear. Further to this, there is the Angels & Devils children collection, the Class line, two underwear collections, shoes, eyewear, watches and perfumes. Always up for new challenges, in 2002 Roberto Cavalli opened the first cafè-store in Florence, revamping with his signature animal prints, while still keeping faith to the original space, what was once the city’s most elegant tea-house. An innovative endeavour that he quickly carried on with the opening in Milan of the Just Cavalli cafè at Torre Branca and another boutique on Via Spiga: marvellous sets where to shop and have fun.

It was reported in April 2008 that Cavalli had put his business up for sale, and was hoping for offers in the region of €2bn, although his advisers Merrill Lynch were aiming for €1.2bn.

In his private life, Roberto Cavalli loves nature, as his predilection for animal prints and jungle and flower motifs testifies. He lives with his wife Eva and their children in a villa on the hills surrounding Florence that is full of exotic animals and birds. He likes to spend summers on their 41-metre iridescent yacht, specially made by Cantieri Baglietto and prized with the Yacht Capital award in 2004. On his yacht, a especial and non-repeatable project, as well as in his mansions, Roberto Cavalli likes spending time with his famous friends. A true communication innovator, ha has always been able to spot talent and style in others, and has subsequently built strong relationships with some of modern society’s most avidly followed stars. Personalities such as Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Drew Barrymore, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyoncé Knowles, Charlize Theron and Victoria Beckham, just to name a few, are ambassadors of the Cavalli lifestyle.

Companies

• JUST CAVALLI
• JUST CAVALLI UNDERWEAR & BEACHWEAR
• ROBERTO CAVALLI UNDERWEAR
• CLASS ROBERTO CAVALLI
• ROBERTO CAVALLI nACCESSORI
• ROBERTO CAVALLI ANGELS e ROBERTO CAVALLI DEVILS
• ROBERTO CAVALLI NEONATO
• ROBERTO CAVALLI ANGELS SHOES e ROBERTO CAVALLI DEVILS SHOES
• ROBERTO CAVALLI and JUST CAVALLI EYEWEAR
• ROBERTO CAVALLI TIMEWEAR
• JUST CAVALLI TIME
• ROBERTO CAVALLI e JUST CAVALLI PROFUMI
• ROBERTO CAVALLI VODKA
• J U S T C A V A L L I C L U B
• J U S T C A V A L L I C A F F E’
• CAFFE’ GIACOSA

Boutiques

United States:

• New York City
• Beverly Hills
• Bal Harbour
• Boston
• Dallas (Roberto Calli at NorthPark Center and Just Cavalli at Galleria Dallas)
• South Coast Plaza
• Fashion Valley (summer 2008)
• Las Vegas
• San Francisco

Italy:

• Florence
• Rome
• Milan
• Venice
• Capri

France:

• Paris

United Kingdom:

• London, Sloane Street

Mexico:

• Mexico City

Lebanon:

• Beirut

Saudi Arabia:

• Khobar

UAE:

• Dubai

References

• Press Office Roberto Cavalli Via San Primo n. 2/A, Milan +39027630371

External links

• Roberto Cavalli Official website
• Vodka Roberto Cavalli Official vodka Website
• Wine Roberto Cavalli Official wine Website
• Roberto Cavalli Biography
• The London Paper: Roberto Cavalli for H&M
• Roberto Cavalli Photos of Roberto Cavalli's psychedelic yacht in Monaco
• Cavalli Vodka Cavalli Vodka Myspace Page
• 2007 British Red Cross London Ball Roberto and Eva Cavalli, honorary chairmen of the Ball Committee