Roberto Cavalli’s Wild and Sexy American Southwest
On Wednesday 23, Fausto Puglisi presented the autumn-winter 2023/24 collection at Milan’s iconic Palazzo della Borsa. The show took place entirely in a box-like space wrapped entirely in velvet and powerfully lit with yellow lighting, evoking the effect of the sun warming the earth. The Cavalli woman lives in the American Southwest, and has a free spirit, a sensual way of enjoying decoration… but she also draws inspiration from muses like Millicent Rogers and Georgia O’Keeffe. “These women with very different personalities have more similarities than one would expect. They ended up living on a ranch in New Mexico, and both used the dress as a continuation and integral part of their personalities,” tells us the designer behind the collection.
But it was not just a Roberto Cavalli show, it was a whole journey that we undertook. A voyage that brought us back to the very essence and roots of the Florentine brand, while it also made us cross the pond. Because as models paraded, images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears dressed Cavalli in the early 2000s kept flooding our minds. The brand is able to both dig into its past and keep its legacy while paying homage to Y2K trends and the 1970s.
The opening look? Fausto Puglisi came out strong with Marta Marzotto’s famous caftan and the iconic light print inspired by Roberto’s own Art Deco design. Progressively, Cavalli’s autumn becomes sexy, cheeky… and wild. We encounter elongated silhouettes and close-fitting garments, shirts are flowy and pants are flared. Every proposal in the collection is energized by contrasts: patterns, devoré, patchwork, denim and animal print. Then come the evening dresses. Almost entirely made of lace, these pieces convey a gothic vibe, both sexy and dark, and seduce us with their elaborate embroidery. But the Cavalli woman also wears oversized denim jackets, turquoise stones (lots of them) and favours the use of fake fur. The colour palette bursts with warm, enveloping colours, bringing to mind images of the arid lands of the desert and its hues.
On the catwalk we spotted, bathed in warm lights, Mariacarla Boscono and Saskia De Brauw, while in the front row sat Heart Evangelista, Giulia Salemi, Sara Sampaio, Maria Esposito, Artem, Frida Aasen and Didi Stone.
Text: Flavio Marcelli
Photos: Ludovica Arcero
