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Roberto Cavalli

Biography

Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Italy on November 15, 1940 to an artistic family; his grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a prolific member of the Macchiaioli Movement, whose work is exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery. Cavalli decided to enroll at the local Art Institute, concentrating in textile print. While still a student, he made a series of flower prints on knit that caught the attention of major Italian hosiery factories.

Roberto Cavalli likes innovations and experimentations, and likes to push technique to the limit. In the early 1970s, he invented and patented a revolutionary printing procedure on leather, and started creating patchworks of different materials. He debuted these techniques in Paris, immediately getting commissions from the likes of Hermès and Pierre Cardin. At the age of thirty, he presented his first namesake collection at the Salon for Prêt-à-Porter in Paris. He brought it to the catwalks of the Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and later on those of Milano Collezioni jeans made of printed denim, intarsia leathers, brocade and wild prints. He then opened his first boutique in 1972 in Saint-Tropez.

In 1980 Roberto Cavalli married Eva Duringer, who has been his lifelong companion and business partner. In Milan in 1994 Cavalli presented the first sand-blasted jeans. By December of the same year, he had opened boutiques in Saint Barth, in the French Caribbean; and then in Venice and Saint-Tropez. Besides the main line, which is sold in over fifty countries worldwide, Roberto Cavalli designs RC Menswear as well as the youth aimed line Just Cavalli, launched in 1998 and comprising today men’s wear, women’s wear and accessories, eyewear, watches, perfumes, underwear and beachwear. There is also the Angels & Devils Children Collection, the Class line, two underwear collections, shoes, eyewear, watches and perfumes. In 2002 Cavalli opened his first café-store in Florence, revamping it with his signature animal prints. This was shortly followed by the opening in Milan of the Just Cavalli café at Torre Branca and another boutique on Via Spiga.

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.

Roberto Cavalli has a highly idiosyncratic style. 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 as his predilection for animal prints and jungle and flower motifs testifies. He travels the world with a digital camera in hand, ready to capture whatever catches his attention and transform it into a new motif.

Cavalli lives with his wife Eva and their children in a villa on the hills surrounding Florence. He spends summers on their 41-metre yacht, which was specially made by Cantieri Baglietto and awarded with the Yacht Capital award in 2004.

Criticism

Cavalli was sharply criticized in 2004 by the Hindu community for marketing a line of feminine underwear (designed for Harrods) which featured the images of South-Asian goddesses. The line was eventually withdrawn and formal apologies were made.