Roberto Cavalli was born in 1944. He attended the Florence Art Academy. He is the grandson of Guiseppe Rossi, the great Florentine impressionist painter.
Cavalli started his career in 1965 when he was 21 years old, painting T-shirts with a girl he knew from art school. Then he set up a factory to do the printing, with a few young men, then by accident in the early 1970's he began to paint on skin which was the first time anyone had done it. The girls who summered at Capri and St. Tropez adored it. Italian Vogue took notice of the young Cavalli.
In 1977 Roberto was invited to judge a Miss Universe contest, and met one of the contestants Eva who became his wife and mother of their 3 children. She started by helping with the knitwear garments and now helps with all the projects at the Cavalli factory.
For 20 years Cavalli has been making sexy garments which have been very successful in Italy and other European countries.
In 1999 the opening of a store on Madison Avenue, in New York, whipped up great momentum. All the New York girls started wearing Cavalli jeans. Hot girls in hot places identified with the high glam sensibility of Cavalli's clothes. His clothes were worn by the stars of TV's hot serial "Sex and the City". Elton John was in the store for hours picking out clothes.
Over 750 labels presented menswear collections in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy, for Fall 2002. Cavalli was the show's favourite saluting his 20 year career. Cavalli himself opened a brand new boutique in the city's historic centre.
In October 2002, in New York, the Fashion Group International voted Cavalli as the Designer of the Year, at a glittering function attended by all the New York fashion celebrities. He accepted the award gratefully saying "This means America accepts me".
Roberto is planning to follow Tom Ford into films, he has teamed up with Italian film director Dino de Laurentiis to produce a film on Boccaccio's "Decameron" and is investing some $ 20 million in the project.
the label
Founded in Florence in the early 1960s, today in fact the brand is distributed in over fifty countries directly through the Roberto Cavalli showrooms at Via Senato 8 in Milan, 715 Fifth Avenue in New York.
The Roberto Cavalli spa produces the Womenswear line complete of accessories that shows on the Milanese catwalks.
Further there are the Menswear collections (Ittierre), Just Cavalli (Ittierre), Class (the complete line, run by Dressing), Roberto Cavalli and Just Cavalli Underwear (by Albisetti), Roberto Cavalli and Just Cavalli Eyewear (glasses & sunglasses by Marcolin), Roberto Cavalli Timewear and Just Cavalli Time (by Morellato&Sector), Roberto Cavalli Angels & Devils (the children collection, by Simonetta), Angels & Devils Shoes (children’ shoes by Selu), Roberto Cavalli and Just Cavalli Perfume (by ITF), Roberto Cavalli Shoes (by Vicini), Roberto Cavalli baby (by Simonetta) and Just Cavalli Jewels (by Morellato&Sector).
By the mid ’90s, rapid business expansion has come in tandem with the strategic positioning of monobrand boutiques in prime locations consonant to the Roberto Cavalli product and clientele.
The first store opened in St. Barthelemy in 1994. The boutiques in Saint Tropez, Venice, Paris, New York, Milan, Rome, Marbeilla, Capri, Florence, Seul, Mexico City, Dubai, Miami, Las Vegas, Taipei, Instambul, Porto Cervo, Valencia, Costa Mesa (L.A) and Forte dei Marmi also attract a wide international audience. Many other prestigious shops worldwide have opened recently: Ginevra, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Dubai, Rome, Kuwait City, Jakarta, Beirut and Kiev. The label is also present in upscale department stores, such as Selfridges, Saks Fifth Avenue, Harvey Nichols Bergdorf&Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Harrods, Printemps and in many more prestigious shops worldwide.
