As someone who has made more than a name for himself on the international fashion circuit, Roberto Cavalli surely needs no introduction. The 69-year-old Italian designer has successfully created a fashion empire and what’s really interesting is the fact that he still boasts of an exuberance that belies his age. For starters, there’s no talk of retirement or for that matter selling off his company due to recession as was widely reported some time back.
“I have no intention of selling my company; I just hired a new team of managers to go ahead with it myself,” comes the reply. And if that’s not enough, he’s always looking for new challenges. “After so many years in fashion, I like to try and apply my creativity in new fields — I created three Cavalli artworks for Coca Cola Lite bottles and designed ‘The Cavalli Card’, which allows members access to all the Cavalli Clubs,” he informs.
Where his work is concerned, he admits he will continue to borrow heavily from nature – be it the jungle or the flower motifs. “Nature is my first source of inspiration and animals prints are my heritage. That said, my fashion is constantly evolving. If you ask me about my muse, I think it is the femininity of all women. I am looking at someone with a clear, strong personality, someone who is a little bit afraid to reveal everything and who wears a Cavalli to express herself. Her beauty is not important, but a certain kind of charm is,” explains Roberto, who was in India last March for a luxury conference and hopes to ‘come down soon’.
“India is a true source of inspiration for me. In fact, I have to confess that I find the way a sari is draped around the body extremely elegant and sensual,” he points out.
Ask him more about India and he amazes you with his knowledge about Bollywood and its stars. “I know of Indian actresses like Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor; they are so beautiful, very elegant and they love my dresses, having worn them for many red carpet functions. I remember that Aishwarya wore my creations at Cannes. So yes, I think Bollywood has now become very important and is recognised not only in India, but worldwide. I hope to have the opportunity to know Bollywood some more in the future,” he says.
Lastly, what does he have to say about India’s fashion industry? “India has great potential. I know that there are many Indian designers and I think this is great because it’s important to support local tradition and style. I think that your designer Manish Arora is doing an interesting job,” he ends.
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