Renowned Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli left a Dubai audience charmed by his remarkable candour and infectious enthusiasm as he took the stage during an event organised by Emaar Properties and Vogue Italia.
Full praise for the city, citing it as the ‘city of the future’ for the fashion world, Cavalli shared his passion for denim at the Fashion Talks, the series of lectures held as part of the second Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience.
The Q&A event morphed into a session fully scripted by Cavalli, as he deflected questions on his rise in prominence as a world-renowned designer and shared delightful anecdotes on his love for denim, the celebrities he loves to work for and even those who make him nervous.
“Denim means freedom,” declared Cavalli, before detailing how denim can be integrated into fashionable wear for every occasion. He said that his own fashion ethos is defined by “trying to understand what a woman wants and to help make them beautiful.”
An ideal design thus becomes one that “changes the life” of the customer. To him, therefore, “fashion is positive.”
Cavalli shared his experiences of designing for Jennifer Lopez and associating with Victoria Beckham and Mary J Blige, and how he has dressed the world’s celebrities for a myriad of occasions. He said that his muse is always the “women I admire,” and singled out Franca Sozzani, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia.
“Franca is the queen of my planet fashion and for her to be here in Dubai (for Vogue Fashion Dubai Experience) is special for the city and makes it the city of the future (for fashion),” Cavalli said.
He said that there are several celebrities who still make him nervous to this day, in terms of the challenge of designing for them. He cited Julia Roberts, Al Pacino and Robert de Niro, before sharing stories of his meetings with them.
His advice for young fashion designers was simple: “Bring new ideas. Be different. Take risks.”
The urge to be different and to follow one’s heart continued through a session on ‘Scouting New Talents’ led by Sara Maino, senior editor and head of talent at Vogue Italia, who urged emerging designers to “be very clear of what you want to do.”
She explained about the ‘Who is on Next’ and the ‘Talent Scout’ initiatives undertaken by Vogue Italia to provide a sustainable platform to develop new talent. She said that the passion for creation and the gift for design are the invaluable part of becoming a successful fashion designer, with formal fashion education serving simply to set the direction.
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