Roberto Cavalli F/W 2008 Runway Dramatic Ballgown Dress

Whether they’re adorned with understated floral patterns or colorful prints that draw on the wonders of the animal kingdom, vintage Roberto Cavalli dresses and evening gowns, shirts and skirts are unapologetically exuberant. All of the seductive garments crafted at the luxury fashion house have long been associated with extravagance and red-carpet sophistication, and their stories begin in Central Italy.

Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Tuscany, in 1940 into an already artistically rich family — his mother was a tailor, and his grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a member of an Italian art movement called Macchiaioli that shared common ground with Impressionist painters. Cavalli was creative at the onset and focused on textiles at the Florence Academy of Art. He garnered some high-profile attention with bold prints on knitwear.

After he patented an experimental and revolutionary process that saw him printing on lightweight leather, Cavalli secured commissions from major fashion houses such as Hermès and Pierre Cardin. He explored integrating handmade ornamentation in his designs and found limitless inspiration in the majestic creatures of the jungle.

In the early 1970s Cavalli unveiled his first namesake collection in Paris and the Sala Bianca of Palazzo Pitti in Florence. He then opened his inaugural boutique in France’s Saint-Tropez in 1972. While the designer’s printed denim offerings were deemed unsophisticated by the day’s couturiers — they looked down upon the material — Cavalli’s form-fitting, sensual cuts, innovative patchwork and obvious dedication to impeccable craftsmanship found admirers in the likes of Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot.

In 1980 Cavalli married former beauty pageant contestant Eva Düringer, who became his trusted business partner. Now a signature of the label, the pair introduced their first sand-blasted jeans in 1994 and later opened boutiques in Venice and elsewhere.

Cavalli’s designs sold all over the world, and the brand’s success helped pave the way for the introduction of a line called Just Cavalli that targeted younger consumers and RC Menswear to complement the array of day dresses, shoes, lingerie and coats and outerwear that were offered in his popular boutiques.

In 2005 Cavalli was asked to help reinvigorate Playboy’s iconic bunny costumes and, in 2006, model Kate Moss starred in his spring/summer ad campaign. A year later, Cavalli created an exclusive collection for H&M and designed costuming for Jennifer Lopez concerts as well as the Spice Girls.

Sicilian designer Fausto Puglisi was appointed creative consultant in 2020 at the Roberto Cavalli brand, which is now owned by Vision Investments.

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The mononymously known Italian designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (b. 1932) is renowned for his fashion house of romantic styles and feminine shapes that he founded in Rome in 1960. Valentino dresses, skirts and other apparel captured the hearts of many of Italy’s wealthiest ladies in the couturier’s early days and led to commissions from Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Jayne Wrightsman and others on the international best-dressed list (when it still meant something). They sought out Valentino for gorgeous gowns, jackets, elegant daytime wear and even when they needed wedding dresses.

An early fascination with fashion developed when Valentino attended the theater as a child and was dazzled by the evening gowns on stage. While a teenager in Voghera, Lombardy, he studied under Italian designer Ernestina Salvadeo and soon moved to Paris, where he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Valentino spent time apprenticing under haute couturiers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, learning how to design and construct high fashion while also thinking about how to strike out on his own.

In 1959, Valentino returned to Italy, and a year later, he opened his own salon, soon joining with longtime professional and personal partner Giancarlo Giammetti. It was located on Rome’s trendy Via Condotti and modeled after the French maisons. One of his earliest clients was Elizabeth Taylor, who discovered Valentino while she was in Rome filming Cleopatra and ordered the white dress that she wore to the premiere of Spartacus.

When the designer launched his first couture line in 1962 with its fiery red colors, it was internationally celebrated, with Valentino soon attiring fashion trendsetters including Princess Margaret and Audrey Hepburn. He formed an especially close friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for whom he designed numerous dresses. Luxurious drapery with fine needlework, bold uses of color and dramatic flourishes would define Valentino fashion across the decades.

As a fashion house, Valentino is best known for its signature Valentino Red color, though one of its iconic lines is the monochromatic “no colour” collection for which the designer won the Neiman Marcus Award in 1967. (The collection also debuted his trademark “V.”) The white dresses and beige dresses led to a demand for Valentino wedding gowns, with clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez and Anne Hathaway.

Valentino retired from his fashion empire in 2007, with Alessandra Facchinetti and then the duo Maria Grazia Chiuri (who departed in 2016) and Pierpaolo Piccioli succeeding him as creative directors. But Valentino still steps out of retirement for special occasions, such as designing a wedding gown for Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.

Today, the brand offers a range of collections that include the Valentino Garavani line and REDValentino, a diffusion line that is aimed at a younger audience. The house has expanded far beyond women’s haute couture and prêt-à-porter to encompass various lines of accessories, including shoes, sunglasses, scarves and perfume. 

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