Roberto Cavalli: A Magnificent Seven bid farewell

They bade a catwalk farewell to the late great Roberto Cavalli on Wednesday night in Milan, five months after Tuscany’s most famous designer passed away, climaxing an evocative show by his successor Fausto Puglisi.

The show was the first the house of Cavalli has staged since its founder passed away in April. It climaxed with a Magnificent Seven of supermodels taking a joint bow with Puglisi, who then beckoned widow Eva Cavalli – sat beside Naomi Campbell – to join him on the runway for an ovation.
 
Catwalk stars like Natasha Poly, Isabeli Fontana and Eva Herzigova dressed in vintage looks from Roberto – sweeping zebra print chiffon dresses or cock feather fantasies in expressionist hues.

“That was a very emotional moment. And I really appreciated Fausto’s gesture. Roberto’s role in fashion will remain in history. But I’d like people to remember Roberto as very creative but also sensitive man. A good father, a good husband – maybe not always, but we all have our weaknesses. But he was a very generous and good man,” said Eva.
 
Describing her late husband as a Tuscan cowboy, she noted that he was a quiet man, whom she urged to go out and enter the world of rock’n’roll, where he created a huge audience for the brand.
 
Fausto’s inspiration this season came from his youth witnessing the beauty of the straits of Messina, his hometown in Sicily.
 
“Dreaming big,” commented Fausto backstage, in reference to his desire to create beauty and fantasy outside his native land, even as he incorporated its culture into his fashion.
 
Though Roberto was very much a Tuscan, Fausto’s Sicilian earthiness and sense of fantasy makes him a natural to direct Cavalli. Both also tapped into rock culture; Roberto with his clubs and cowboy cool elements, Fausto from working in New York and realizing his dreams out West.

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Puglisi opened in white, ivory and ecru, with embroidery thrown over trench coats, sizzling cocktails and slouchy pants. Before he suddenly changed gear and evoked sunset sea views in a whole series of photo prints of the sun sinking into the Med. Seen in froissè silk dresses, slim coats and skirts. 
 
Before leaping into the sea like Poseidon, with wrinkled dresses and sequined cocktails suggesting crashing waves, the sound of which greeted guests as they took their seats inside La Borsa, the former stock market of Milan. 
 
All recalling the vistas Fausto witnessed as a young lad growing up in Messina. By bizarre coincidence on the same day as the death of Toto Schillaci, the famed Italian soccer star and top scorer in the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
 
A particular day, and show, which also included a contemporary capsule collection of zebra prints separates, named ‘Zebra 2000’, of long and short slip dresses, shirt, t-shirt, bodysuit and two fits of jeans in three colorways. Available for purchase right after the show.
 
The king is dead; long live the king.