A LIFE LESS ORDINARY
With his new home collection and the opening of his first store in India, Bazaar gets an exclusive peek into ROBERTO CAVALLI’s decadent, LUXE LIFESTYLE
It’s hard to believe that the designer who built his brand on sex, leather, and animal prints calls a Tuscan farmhouse his home. And yet the weathered stone structure, built around a 15th century lookout tower and sprawling down the hillside of a 32-acre estate, forms the core of the designer’s world. This is Roberto Cavalli’s inspirational centre, where he creates his iconic prints, and dreams up his next collection. It has served as the location for memorable ads, launches, and parties; and this is where he hosts clients and press, celebrities and friends. It’s the house he shares with wife Eva, where his three children grew up, and it’s the inspiration behind his recently launched Roberto Cavalli Home collection.
The collection debuted in April at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Italy, and had all the decadence and sexiness one would expect from the designer—animal print chairs, velvet and silk cushions, hand-blown Murano glass, leather, and suede bedside tables flanking a circular, rotating bed. “I consider fashion a complete experience,” says Cavalli. “I suggest a style that isn’t simply a way of dressing, but a way of being, a lifestyle.”
The Roberto Cavalli Home collection is built on a 40-year legacy of creativity, merging many of the designer’s passions. It features the silk, tribal, and damask prints and of course the animal furs, which serve as the fabrics for the bedroom and living room. “I arrived at fashion through painting and perhaps it is this that makes my vision so special; my desire to create, to express myself freely, unleashing my imagination. There is no difference between the way in which a fashion line and a home collection are thought out,” says Cavalli. While he uses and “adores” all the pieces from it, he picks the round bed and the armchair as his favourites, and the spheres from the collection as Eva’s.
He bought the farmhouse— an inadequate word—which has served as his canvas for experiments with interiors in the early 1980s. It’s been added to,
and redecorated over the years, the original exposed sandstone building transformed into a luxurious villa. Now it bristles with art—14th century Renaissance statues, vases by French art nouveau artist Émile Gallé that cover almost every surface and Eva’s extended collection of spheres in crystal, silver, and gold are sometimes suspended from the ceiling or are casually scattered on side tables. Animal prints form the highlights in every room, sometimes featured as rugs or used as upholstery. Rich velvets add lustre to the house’s wood, marble, and exposed stone.
It’s a house that has been enjoyed by an endless number of his famous friends, including supermodel Cindy Crawford and her family. An exuberant host, Cavalli has the enviable ability to share his enjoyment of life with his guests, though he rues the fact that work poses a constraint on the number of people he can entertain. So what is his secret to being a perfect host? “It is to enjoy having the people you love around and making them very comfortable in your house. I love to have my friends at home!”
Aproud Florentian, Cavalli credits the historical town as the source of his i nspiration, and an influence on his identity. It’s the reason he stayed and sank his r oots i n t he Florentine countryside (it’s only a plus that Florence and Milan are a short helicopter-ride away). And his house is, first and foremost, a home for him and his f amily. His daughter Rachelle, who works in the label’s accessories department, has a house on the hill, while his son Daniele, who runs the men’s collection, lives in the main house. Rachelle’s three daughters play there, and a menagerie of pets has the run of the house. These include parrots, dogs, monkeys, and Pussy, a beloved Persian cat.
It’s the antithesis of the estate’s latest addition. Next door is a gleamingly modern one-bedroom house. Designed by Italian architect Italo Rota, it is built into the hillside with a striking façade of steel screens and glass. Inside, a handcrafted steel staircase sweeps up looking natural amid the antiques. This serves as Cavalli’s studio, used for photography and fashion, and where he
Parts of Cavalli’s lifestyle have already been available to the fashion set—at the Just Cavalli Hollywood in Milan, Cavalli’s Caffè Giacosa in Florence, Cavalli Club in Dubai—and spawned a range of products including wine and vodka. The move into home furnishings and accessories seems like a natural extension. “I have always said that I would have liked to have been an architect,” says Cavalli. “The new line, Roberto Cavalli Home, and the furniture of my Cavalli Clubs around the world have given me the possibility to convey traces of my life and my trips into everything I create.”
If that’s the case, Roberto Cavalli’s latest influence is set to be India, where his first store has recently opened at DLF Emporio, New Delhi, and his second store is scheduled to open in Mumbai next year. The Delhi boutique houses the women’s and men’s prêtà-porter collections, as well as accessories, eyewear, watches, and kidswear. Will the store offerings be curated to suit the Indian market? “It will be no different than my other stores elsewhere,” assures Cavalli. “I am sure that Indian ladies will love Cavalli clothes and will be great customers as my fashion seems perfect for them.” Because Indian women are beautiful, elegant, sophisticated, sensual, and they want to look divine and fantastic, the designer replies enthusiastically, covering all ground. He especially loves the way Indians mix and match bold, bright colours. “It’s exciting, and really close to my optimistic vision of fashion and glamour.”