Attendees at amfAR’s Las Vegas gala last month got a sneak peek at this Roberto Cavalli pre-fall collection when designer Fausto Puglisi arrived arm in arm with actress Juno Temple and in matching black and white florals, hers featuring hand-applied gold detailing that tracing the contours of blossoms, a technique the designer admired on both ancient Chinese pottery and Cavalli’s earliest work.
The house founder, who passed away in April this year, was notorious for the suggestiveness of his clothing. He received less credit for his obsession with textiles, which he mixed and matched with kaleidoscopic verve, but they were just as essential to the hot-blooded appeal of his clothes. Puglisi is also a bit of a fabric freak, and he put his enthusiasm to work in this collection, drawing inspiration from the always inspiring Marchesa Luisa Casati.
The slip dress pictured here, which combines two glowing fil coupes, one in pool blue and the other in deep forest green, with bronze lace, and is punctuated by a contrasting velvet obi belt, vividly demonstrates that enthusiasm. It is sweet rather than sultry and also reconfigures the well-known Cavalli silhouette. “I’m talking about a different kind of woman,” Puglisi said on a Zoom call from Vegas. “It’s not twenty years ago anymore.”
With his collections for the season, Puglisi has to speak to many different types of women and men, and so there’s quite a bit of variety here, ranging from Cavalli-isms like kaftans and pajama sets to pieces that are more in line with Puglisi’s own preferences, like souvenir satin bomber jackets and sleek but curvy printed tuxedos, of the kind that photographer Ellen von Unwerth showed at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The something-for-everyone approach can dilute a designer’s point of view, but there’s a lot of life in this Cavalli collection.