Roberto Cavalli Reinterprets a Print by Namesake Founder in a Summer Capsule Collection
MILAN — The Roberto Cavalli brand is “on steroids,” said chief executive officer Sergio Azzolari.
The executive touted the recent progress made by the Italian brand, and discussed the strategy behind the launch of a capsule collection called Ray of Gold across its store network and on its online boutique.
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The capsule comprises ready-to-wear, soft accessories, eyewear and home.
Creative director Fausto Puglisi reinterpreted an archival Ray of Gold print conceived by the namesake founder of the brand, who reproduced the image of a sunbeam refracted on his golden Art Deco lighter. The late designer introduced the print in the spring 2007 collection, in a light dress featuring luminous rays and butterfly-shaped sleeves. It became a signature motif on his rtw and then in his couture. Incidentally, in 2022, Jennifer Lopez wore the print at the Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Puglisi’s rtw capsule includes dresses, accessories and women’s and men’s beachwear. Azzolari said the brand has been broadening its daywear range as part of its recent strategy.
Short and long flowing dresses, cut like slipdresses, feature thin straps that run down the length of the garments. There is a ’70s vibe on skinny pants that occasionally flare out, while shorts are paired with camisoles or sleeved tops, bralettes, or tunics, bustiers or blouses.
Along with one-piece swimsuits and bikinis, the capsule includes sarongs, cover-up robes, towels, playing cards and accessories such as printed fabric sandals with platform or strappy high heels alternating with flats, pumps and mules in the same print. There are spacious totes and small crossbody variations, matching the prints of belts, bracelets, jewelry and chokers with fabric pendants.
In the men’s version of Ray of Gold, printed shirts with long or short sleeves flank bowling shirts, anoraks, pants, and shorts.
The motif is also visible on the brand’s eyewear line, produced by De Rigo, even on the mirrored lenses of one of the styles.
Last May Cavalli revisited the house’s spring 2023 print Wild Leda as a capsule collection celebrated through a series of events. The Wild Leda Summer kicked off in London, where the brand teamed with Selfridges to install a dedicated pop-up store.
Azzolari underscored the brand’s focus on a lifestyle concept and not on single products, “with an idea and an ideal that can be traced back to the past.”
During the Cannes Film Festival last month, the Ray of Gold pattern was unveiled as the print “dressing” the city’s Annex Beach Club’s sofas, cushions, booths, beach towels and tableware for the duration of the summer. Cavalli held a dinner and party at the location during the yearly event. A month earlier, during the Salone del Mobile, the print was splashed on Milan’s storied trams traversing the city.
Azzolari said the print is very much representative of the brand’s aestethic and codes and that the strategy of “leveraging a single motif in a pervasive way on events and products” has been rewarding and successful.
He praised Puglisi for being “very respectful of Roberto, yet at the same time he succeeds in reinterpreting his style in a more contemporary way, without distorting the brand” and that “mixing the two worlds” is a positive driver for the brand. So much so that he believes “the print could have been invented by Fausto himself. There is an elective affinity, they are on the same wave length, and they are part of the same story.”
Asked about a potential tribute to the late Roberto Cavalli, who died in April aged 83, Azzolari said it could “probably take place in September.”
However, he believed “the party held in Cannes was also a way to celebrate him, as it was entirely down his alley, an event he would have loved and could have staged himself, with people having fun, glamorous but not a stereotype moment. I’ve heard quite a few people say to me that Cavalli is finally back.”
On the day of the interview, Azzolari was especially pleased as he related that the previous day was “memorable,” reporting the brand’s “biggest sales in the past 14 years.”
As reported, revenues in 2023 amounted to 120 million euros, compared with 80 million euros in 2022.
Retail-wise, a store in Los Angeles will open in the second half of the year, after an opening in Ibiza in mid-June. A second unit just opened in Puerto Banús, Spain.
Hussain Sajwani, founder and chairman of the Dubai-based Damac Properties, owns Cavalli through his private investment company Vision Investments, which bought the brand from Clessidra SGR in 2019.
Puglisi joined the house in the fall of 2020, and has been increasing its visibility through the slew of celebrities, from Jennifer Lopez and Dua Lipa to Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani, who have worn Cavalli. Taylor Swift has been wearing some of his designs for her “Eras Tour.”
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