Roberto Cavalli | The New York Observer

Fashion Week's Brave Face

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:48:35 -0500

At Diane von Furstenberg’s afternoon show on Sunday, Feb. 15, the front-row guests simply would not settle down—but perhaps everyone was simply thrilled they didn’t have to put their sad faces on in sympathy for the economy. “We need this!” said Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn, glancing around the tent at Bryant Park. “We need people feeling ‘up’ this week! People were speculating that it was going to be, oh, you know, down and...

Vanity Fair Fashion Director Michael Roberts Says American Men's Wear is 'O.K., But a Bit Weak'

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 20:56:13 -0500

"If it’s Fashion Week, then I must have another book out!" said Vanity Fair fashion and style director Michael Roberts on Friday, Feb. 13, at the Madison Avenue Roberto Cavalli store. He wasn't exaggerating: His latest, Fighters and Flowers, is a collaboration with Mr. Cavalli, who had thrown a party in honor of the book's publication.

Much like Mr. Roberts' book that come out during last fashion week—the one in which an almost-nude male...

Fashion Roundup: Roberto Cavalli's Slithery Credit Card; Men's Designers Avoiding the Runway; Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:55:24 -0500

Just in time for the recession, Roberto Cavalli has introduced an exclusive snakeskin credit card. [Luxist via Cityfile]

Chicago-based designer Mario Pinto, whose designs are often worn by Michelle Obama, says the trick to designing the perfect dress is being able to wear the dress yourself. [Vogue UK]

Adam Kimmel is latest menswear designer who plans to present his fall 2009 collection as an installation without the use of models. [WWD]

Next Thursday, the...

Fashion Roundup: Siriano's Shoes, Jacobs' Nudes, 'Polanski's' Greed

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:38:08 -0500

Project Runway contestant Christian Siriano has signed a deal with Payless to design a line of affordable shoes and handbags. [NY Post]

Designer Roberto Cavalli has been cleared of all tax evasion charges brought against him in Italy in 2002 when he attempted to write off taxes on renovations to his Tuscany home. [Vogue UK]

Louis Vuitton is re-releasing Marc Jacobs' collaboration with graffiti artist Stephen Sprouse for a new limited edition...

Fashion Roundup: Anna Wintour Gets an Order; Black Friday Alternatives; Roberto Cavalli Cleared

Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:44:20 -0500

Anna Wintour was awarded an Order of the British Empire for "services to British journalism and fashion in America." [Vogue UK]

Racked has a list of online sales, for those who prefer to kick off their holdiday shopping at home. [Racked]

Winona Ryder claims to have "lost" $125,000 worth of borrowed Bulgari jewelry. [Vogue UK]

After years of legal wrangling, Roberto Cavalli has been fully cleared of the tax evasion charges brought against him by...

Fashion Roundup: Gisele Bundchen Makes a Calendar; Roberto Cavalli Segways Through Saint-Tropez

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:44:58 -0400

Halston, the '70s-tastic label revived last year by Jimmy Choo designer Tamara Mellon and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, has announced that it will show at the Museum of Modern Art during fashion week, even though designer Marco Zanini departed from the label recently. [FWD]

Model Agyness Deyn and her boyfriend, Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., wear matching shoes. [Jezebel]

Project Runway is suddenly not looking like an automatic hit, as the contestants...

The Boots of Summer Augur Seasonless Revolt of Autumn

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:59:27 -0400

On a recent balmy Saturday on the Ladies Mile of lower Fifth Avenue, the windows of Intermix, Anthropologie and H&M were just beginning to transition into displaying fall collections, but many of the shoppers shlepping around in 90-degree heat were curiously dressed in what could be mistaken for winter wear: Frye boots! Knit scarves! And woven beanie hats!

“You know you might get some looks if you wear boots...

Lydia Hearst to Get 'Model of the Year' Laurels; Plus, Sneak Peek at Richardson Shoot for Perry Ellis

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:33:57 -0500

The Michael Awards—the big black-tie fashion-industry smoochfest that gives out awards and raises money for the National Children's Leukemia Foundation—won’t be held until May 7th, but at this early date! The Transom can now exclusively reveal 2007’s model of the year: Lydia Hearst.

“It’s basically the Oscars of fashion,” she said, while picking away at a lobster roll yesterday at a café in the Time Warner Center.

Okay so, had she prepared her speech?

“No, no,” said...

Milanese Mayhem: Beyoncé Blocks Versace-Bergdorf Sale, Sneezes At GQ Party

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 15:40:19 -0500

Over at Milan Fashion Week, Bergdorf Goodman’s fashion director of men’s wear, Tommy Fazio, was “unceremoniously asked” to give up his front-row seat at Saturday’s Versace runway show. Why? Because of Beyoncé, of course!

According to a dispatch posted on T Magazine’s Web site today, Mr. Fazio was forced from his seat by a “clipboard Nazi,” who needed the chair for a member of the 26-year-old...

A Cavalli Line You Can Drink

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:14:36 -0500

Now that his H&M line has successfully launched, fashion designer Roberto Cavalli can really get down to snubbing his day job, lending him more time to host parties—like the one he held last weekend at his villa near Florence. (This gathering took place a few months after he feted model-socialite Lydia Hearst in the same digs and only weeks after he threw an even bigger Halloween bash at Cipriani ...

At H&M, Easy Cavalli, Easy Go

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:25:17 -0500

At 12:10 PM, I arrived at the H&M at 18th and Broadway, the nearest chez Observer, thinking I’d check out Roberto Cavalli’s new line for the chain. Its debut this morning had been hyped for weeks by images of Leigh Lezark, Jessica Stam, Erin Wasson, and Lydia Hearst partying it up with male models at Cavalli’s mansion in Italy.

The store was eerily calm.

Where were the long snaking lines, the brawling ladies,...

Is Lydia Hearst Recycling Tuscan Tale?

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:40:53 -0400

Looking through Lydia Hearst's column in Page Six Magazine this weekend might have brought on a case of deja vu. In an item titled "Craziness at Cavalli," the magazines model-heiress diarist writes:

Last week, [Ed.: emphasis added] I flew from New York to Florence with three other models—Jessica Stam, Theodora Richards and Erin Wasson—to shoot the Roberto Cavalli for H&M ad campaign. It was surreal.

For starters, Roberto held the shoot at night, inside his Italian...

Anderson's Wartime Chic Is De Trop on Wall Street

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400

None of us New Yorkers want our colonoscopy performed by a lady wearing a plunging Roberto Cavalli leopard-print silk-chiffon caftan. When a medical professional is advancing upon you with a needle or a probe of any kind, you expect that person to be wearing confidence-inspiring garments, such as those designed by Eileen Fisher or Ann Taylor. High fashion and medicine simply do not mix.

War is another story. After watching Anderson Cooper’s...