Veteran Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli has passed away aged 83, after a prolonged illness. He has been leaving and entering the hospital more and more often recently for ritual checkups, his family told The Hollywood Reporter. On Saturday, his company also issued an official statement on social media, announcing his demise. ''A life lived with Love.
It is with great sadness that today we say our final goodbyes to our founder Roberto Cavalli. From humble beginnings in Florence Roberto succeeded in becoming a globally recognised name loved and respected by all. Naturally talented and creative, Roberto believed that everyone can discover and nurture the artist within themselves. Roberto Cavalli's legacy will live on via his creativity, his love of nature and via his family who he cherished,'' the post reads.
See the Instagram post:
The late fashion designer had designed outfits for several Bollywood celebrities as well including Amy Jackson, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Priyanka Chopra Jonas among others.
Roberto Cavalli's life at a glance
In 1970s, Cavalli became popular in the early 1970s for his animal prints. He imagined the women who wore his clothes as wild creatures: lionesses, panthers, and tigers, charming and wild. In the mid-1990s, Cavalli revolutionised the world of denim with a number of innovations, among them stretch jeans, which he invented by adding Lycra to the fabric, and a process for sand-blasting denim pieces that gave them a lived-in effect. The designer opened his first boutique in St Tropez, France, the most exclusive vacation destination for VIPs, in 1972.
As per CNN, Cavalli retired from active duty at his label in 2015, picking designer Peter Dundas to succeed him as creative director. Dundas left the job after only three seasons and was succeeded by Paul Surridge, who remained until 2019. In the same year, after a period of financial difficulties that led to bankruptcy, the business was acquired by a Dubai-based private investment firm, which has since retained the designer Fausto Puglisi for its fashion collections and further branched out into Cavalli-branded real estate and hospitality ventures.
Cavalli's survivors include his longtime partner Sandra Bergman Nilsonn and his six children, Tommaso, Cristiana, Robert, Rachele, Daniele, and Giorgio. With his demise, he has left a huge void in the fashion industry.
(With ANI inputs)
