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Roberto Cavalli

Eva and Roberto Cavalli on the 'magenta carpet' at Life Ball 2013, Vienna, Austria.

Image Courteousy of Manfred WErner

"Nature is my main source of inspiration - I will never stop taking hints from what I call 'the greatest artist'."

Italian fashion designer and inventor Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Italy, on November 15, 1940 and is the designer behind the high-end Italian fashion label focusing on leather accessories, perfume, and designer clothing.

Cavalli enrolled at the art institute and focused on textile print. He created a sequence of flower prints on knit while still a student, which attracted the attention of important Italian hosiery factories. He also developed and patented a method of printing on leather at the start of the 1970s and began making patchworks out of various materials. He introduced his methods in Paris, where he received commissions from brands like Hermès and Pierre Cardin instantly. At the Paris Salon for Prêt-à-Porter, he debuted his first collection under his own name at the age of 32, which he then introduced to the catwalks of Milano Collezioni and the Sala Bianca of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence. The jeans were constructed of patterned denim, intarsia leathers, brocade, and wild designs. In 1972, he opened his first store in Saint-Tropez.

Roberto Cavalli married Eva Düringer, a former Miss Austria and first runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant in 1977, where he served as one of the judges.

The first pair of sandblasted jeans were introduced by Cavalli in Milan in 1994. He had opened shops at Saint Barth, in the French Caribbean, by December of the same year, and then in Venice and Saint-Tropez.

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Roberto Cavalli also creates RC Menswear and the youth-oriented Just Cavalli line, which was introduced in 2000 and currently sells men's and women's clothing, accessories, eyewear, watches, jewelry, perfumes, underwear, and beachwear. These lines are in addition to the main line, which is sold in more than fifty countries around the world. The Class line, two underwear lines, the Angels & Devils Children Collection, shoes, eyewear, watches, and perfumes also form part of the designer's portfolio.

When Cavalli established his first café-store in Florence in 2002, he gave it a makeover using his distinctive animal patterns. The Just Cavalli café at Torre Branca and another store on Via della Spiga both opened in Milan soon after.

In July 2011, at The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona his collection was featured on the runway. Jessica Stam, Eva Riccobono, Laetitia Casta, Natasha Poly, Mariacarla Boscono, Karen Elson, Karolina Kurkova, and Ivan Olita are just a few of the top models that have worked for the company. Even international supermodels have often been unable to resist the opulent extravagance of Roberto Cavalli's designs, including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Heidi Klum, Eva Herzigova, Gisele Bündchen, Joan Smalls, Hailey Biber, Bella, and Gigi Hadid.

In 2019, DAMAC Properties's Hussain Sajwani completed the acquisition of Italian fashion group Roberto Cavalli.

Cavalli is very glam and rock. He is famous for creating original patterns and giving jeans the sandblasted look. Designs are fluid, erotic, wild, and sexy. The outcomes of the designer's usage of various materials, such as leather, denim, silk, and feathers, are simply unforgettable. Roberto Cavalli, was dubbed as "The King of Fashion Animalier" by the New York Times in 2001. Roberto Cavalli made wild animal prints his signature design by putting them on everything, from his treated denim styles to the red carpet gowns.