Roberto Cavalli

Biography

Roberto Cavalli (15 November 1940 – 12 April 2024) was an Italian fashion designer and inventor. He was known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. The Roberto Cavalli fashion house sells luxury clothing, perfume, and leather accessories.

In the early 1970s, he invented and patented a printing process on leather, and started creating patchworks of different materials. He debuted these techniques in Paris, immediately winning commissions from the likes of Hermès and Pierre Cardin. At age 32, 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 his Milano Collezioni featured jeans made of printed denim, intarsia leathers, brocade, and wild-animal prints. In 1972, he opened his first boutique in Saint-Tropez.

In July 2011, his company collection was presented at the catwalk of The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.

On 18 June 2013, he was awarded an Honorary Master's Diploma in Fashion Management from Domus Academy in Milan, during a ceremony after which he held a lectio magistralis.