Vita gazette – The fashion world mourns Roberto Cavalli. The designer known for his glamorous designs and colorful prints, died in Florence at the age of 83.

The stylist Roberto Cavalli, founder of the brand that bore his name, died at the age of 83 in Florence. He leaves behind six children, including the youngest Giorgio, just over a year old.

A life between fashion and art

Cavalli was born in 1940 in a small village in Tuscany. His grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a celebrated artist and member of the Macchiaioli movement and many of his works are still part of the Uffizi heritage today. Cavalli later moved with his mother, a seamstress, and siblings to Florence after the murder of his father by German soldiers. It was while studying at the Academy of Art in Florence in 1957 that he began experimenting with textiles. His ideas are noticed by designers such as Cardin and Hermès.

Cavalli launched his eponymous label in 1970 and made a name for himself by patenting a new way of printing on leather. She first showed off her revolutionary technique in her debut collection in Paris, which featured a pink leather evening gown. Cavalli immediately obtained commissions from French houses including Hermès and Pierre Cardin.

He later turned his skills to denim. His autumn/winter ‘94 collection featured the first pair of sandblasted jeans, and the following year he worked with Lycra to invent stretch jeans. The skinny jeans were an instant success, leading him to launch a dedicated line, Cavalli Jeans, later renamed Just Cavalli.

In 1998 Roberto Cavalli was present in 36 countries around the world and the company is now a brand of undisputed value. In 2000 the designer began a new adventure in the production of accessories: glasses, shoes, watches and perfumes, swimsuits and underwear which complete the clothing sector, with the launch of his brand Just Cavalli, a youth line, which immediately met a great success, and which is completed with RC Menswear. Cavalli also designs the Angels & Devils clothing line for teenagers and the Class line. Household goods, pet clothing, vodka, wines, restaurants and members’ clubs followed.

In 2015 Roberto Cavalli first sold his company to the Clessidra fund, which however in November 2019 in turn sold it into the hands of Dubai billionaire Hussain Sajwani and his Vision Investments. Shortly afterwards, the designer began a period of increasingly precarious health.

He married his first wife, Silvanella Giannoni, in 1964 and had two children. They divorced in 1974, and in 1980 he married Eva Duringer, a former Miss Universe contestant whom he met while judging the pageant in 1977. The couple had three children, and Eva became his business partner. The couple worked together until the business was sold. They divorced in 2010. In 2023 he announced the birth of his sixth child, a son, with his partner, the Swedish model and actress Sandra Nilsson.