Fashion Industry Reacts to Death of Designer Roberto Cavalli

MILAN — The information of Roberto Cavalli’s loss of life at age 83 on Friday led to fond reminiscences of the designer, his ardour for the humanities and trend and his affect on Made in Italy.

“I can not think about a imaginative and prescient of trend extra distant from mine than that of Roberto Cavalli, but I’ve all the time had monumental respect for him: Roberto was a real artist, wild and great in his use of prints, able to remodeling fantasy into seductive garments. I’ve learnt with nice unhappiness of his passing: his Tuscan verve might be drastically missed,” stated Giorgio Armani. 

Renzo Rosso, founding father of OTB, which for years held the license for the Simply Cavalli line, stated the designer “has been an icon of Made in Italy on the earth, his unmistakable fashion influenced complete generations of designers.”

Rosso, whose group controls manufacturers starting from Diesel to Maison Margiela, Marni and Jil Sander, was stated to be aiming to purchase the Roberto Cavalli model in 2018. “I’m deeply saddened by his loss of life and I bear in mind with loads of affection the moments that we spent collectively. He was a courageous artist, a unprecedented expertise that by no means feared to dare and was all the time dedicated to exalt the excellence of Italy. His passing is a superb loss for the style group and for Italy.”

“Roberto Cavalli’s passing marks the departure of a person who contributed in a novel solution to trend and Made in Italy, who championed an inimitable imaginative and prescient manufactured from prints, colours and seductive femininity,” stated designer Alberta Ferretti. “Cavalli wrote a vital chapter of Italian trend, set to proceed inspiring future generations,” she famous.

Florentine trend home Ferragamo and its founding household additionally acknowledged the work and affect of the designer. “We now have all the time appreciated his creativity and his progressive concepts, like him being the primary one to print on leather-based, for instance,” stated Giovanna Gentile Ferragamo, daughter of the model’s founder and sister of chairman Leonardo Ferragamo. “Using mushy and fluid materials marked his work, highlighting the trait that enhanced ladies’s femininity, and this additionally contributed to his success and made him well-known worldwide,” she added.

“There isn’t any one like Roberto. He was a real ‘bon vivant’ and his model mirrored this,” stated Peter Dundas, who labored with Cavalli and his former spouse Eva as head designer from 2002 to 2005, earlier than returning to the model and succeeding the founder in 2015 as Cavalli steadily eased out of trend. Dundas was artistic director of the model till 2017.

“Arriving on the earth of Cavalli was for me like a child getting into a sweet retailer. Every design and each assortment was a celebration. A celebration of femininity (or masculinity), a celebration of coloration, of sample, of embroidery. At all times a celebration of magnificence and of sexuality,” stated Dundas. “It was one of the best ending college a child like me may hope for and I’m so grateful for the alternatives Roberto gave me to play, have enjoyable with trend and [for] giving me the liberty to seek out myself as a designer.

“When years later he requested me to return as the home’s artistic director, it felt like the last word reward from probably the most visually beneficiant designers the style world has identified and he’ll all the time have a particular place in my coronary heart,” stated Dundas.

“At this time greater than ever if I take into consideration Roberto, I understand how a lot he was an artist with prints and colours,” stated designer Lorenzo Serafini, who labored alongside the late Cavalli for 10 years. “I can see him in entrance of the print desks in Osmannoro [the Roberto Cavalli brand’s headquarters in Tuscany], reimagining the standard method to printing by way of the variety of strategies he invented,” he added.

“His profession was really marked by a deep imaginative and prescient and his nice sensibility towards prints and colours. The ten years I spent by his facet had been unimaginable and unforgettable. By Roberto’s facet every thing was potential, he would push you to problem the boundaries of fantasy and creativity, there have been no boundaries one couldn’t overcome via creativeness. I owe Roberto loads and received’t cease to thank him for all he taught me,” Serafini supplied.

Former Bulgari and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton government Francesco Trapani, who spearheaded the acquisition of the Roberto Cavalli firm in 2015 when he was chairman of Clessidra, stated Cavalli “was a revolutionary designer,” which led to his gaining “nice worldwide success.”

The mannequin Mariacarla Boscono shared an image of the designer, saying “Ciao Roberto” on her Instagram Tales.

“His passing hits laborious for every thing he stood for, for Florence as a real Florentine and for Italian and worldwide trend. He excelled at every thing he did…he labored with prints in such a novel means,” stated Raffaello Napoleone, chief government officer of Pitti Immagine. “They had been an important ardour of his, he would sketch these prints. He was additionally such an eclectic character…from flying helicopters, [breeding] racehorses. He was enthusiastic about artwork and a beneficiant man. He really meant loads for Italian trend. When somebody dies individuals often use superlatives, however I like to recollect him for what he did, all the time supported by Eva.”

“Ciao to my previous buddy…I’ll miss you!” wrote Laudomia Pucci in a publish on her Instagram account.

Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, who based the Kuwait retail emporium Villa Moda that carried Cavalli’s collections, stated “my most treasured reminiscences of Florence are the fabulous dinners hosted by Roberto at his home along with his great spouse, Eva.

“I’ll always remember the setting, the meals, the ambiance and above all Roberto’s wonderful humorousness, and the way he teased Eva along with his previous tales of flirting with women. Could his soul relaxation in peace and he’ll all the time be remembered and in our hearts and prayers,” Al-Sabah stated.

Dr. Andrew Burnstine, former government vice chairman of Martha, Inc., and the grandson of Martha  Phillips, stated, “Robert Cavalli as soon as stated, “I would love the individuals who purchase my garments to know that for me, it’s one small piece of artwork.”

“And Martha Phillips understood this. When she and Lynn [Manulis, her daughter and president and chief executive officer of Martha, Inc.], went to Florence within the early Eighties and noticed Roberto’s whimsical prints, they thought they had been every a small piece of artwork. Every merchandise was so masterly achieved, representing a specific animal and theme. Martha referred to them as a small menagerie   – and knew they might be successful when she offered them in Bal Harbour and Palm Seaside. She was right (as standard). She had ordered two dozen prints, and so they offered out in two days! Many extra reorders would comply with,” stated Burnstine.  

Cavalli had turned what was as soon as the “animal print fad” right into a trend traditional, he stated.  Burnstine recalled Cavalli saying, “I like nature. Animals have  one of the best attire. God made them so well-dressed. Ladies like these designs, they really feel pure in them.” 

The photographer Mert Alas of the style images duo Mert and Marcus shared an promoting marketing campaign from 2004 on his Instagram account paying homage to Cavalli.

Spanish-born mannequin and actor Jon Kortajarena posted on his Instagram Tales a photograph of himself and the designer.

The entrepreneur Federico Marchetti on his Tales wrote, “Roberto was all the time sort and beneficiant soul. Relaxation in peace”

Artwork collector James Goldstein shared a photograph with Cavalli on his Instagram with the caption : “Roberto Cavalli was an incredible designer! I proudly wore his garments for a few years! His trend exhibits had been all the time my favorites!”