“It’s a sad time, I’m very afraid. At the same time, I love my job, my tailors, my team. I thought: let’s celebrate the Roberto Cavalli DNA in shades of gold.” Fausto Puglisi has the difficult job of nurturing one of the most hedonistic aesthetics in fashion in a moment when the world is flashing caution signs and many designers are in retreat.
But caution and Cavalli are two things that don’t go together, so gold it was. It came in myriad ways: in Karen Elson’s sunray pleats, a dress straight out of old Hollywood save for the up-to-date flat sandals it was paired with. On denim, the Cavalli signature done here in wild textures (these were not your basic blue jeans). And via the silk velvet dévoré that gave Puglisi’s slip dresses a touch-me dimensionality.
Cut-outs—on bodysuits and body-hugging cocktail dresses—meant there was plenty of skin on display. Elsewhere, tiger stripes were picked out in lavishes of sequins. All of this was true to the Cavalli of old; Puglisi understands the brand codes without question. What it lacked was some of Puglisi’s own firecracker spirit: the obsessions with Carrara marble or the frescoes of Pompeii that have made it more personal and surprising.
To keep the label fresh and relevant in the mid 2020s, decades after its Glamazon heyday, that human touch is necessary. Here’s hoping that Puglisi is allowed the opportunity to reconnect with his own inner wild child going forward.