‘King of Bling’ Roberto Cavalli Dead at 83

The Italian designer Roberto Cavalli died on Friday at age 83.

Cavalli launched his namesake brand in Florence in the late 1960s and expanded outside Europe in the ’90s. By the early 2000s, his skin-bearing silhouettes, patchwork jeans, and animal-print dresses had turned him into a celebrity designer whose fans included Victoria Beckham, Beyoncé, and Cindy Crawford.

Cavalli became known as the “King of Bling” with a decadent private life to match, filled with yachts, helicopters, racehorses, and sports cars. One of his sons, Daniele, joined the brand as director of menswear in the early 2010s, but exited before Cavalli sold the business in 2015. Last year, Cavalli became a father for the sixth time with girlfriend Sandra Nilsson.

“The Roberto Cavalli company shares condolences with Mr. Cavalli’s family loss,” wrote Sergio Azzolari, the current CEO of Cavalli’s namesake brand, in an Instagram statement. “It is the greatest honor of my career to work under your legacy and to create for the brand you founded with such vision and style,” said Fausto Puglisi, the line’s current creative director.

Since Cavalli sold his business, the brand has changed ownership several times while struggling with declining sales. Dubai luxury-real-estate developer Hussain Sajwani acquired Cavalli in 2019, and Puglisi joined as its head designer a year later.