Roberto Cavalli dazzles Florence with Wild Leda Summer collection, unveils new projects

In parallel with Pitti Uomo, Roberto Cavalli presented in Italy the Wild Leda Summer collection, designed by eclectic creative director Fausto Puglisi. Wild Leda Summer premièred in London on June 1 with a surrealistic installation, and was also presented at Florence’s long-established, prestigious LuisaViaRoma luxury multibrand store. The ideal showcase for a collection that perfectly embodies Puglisi’s creativity, and his amazing ability to be true to himself while reinterpreting the label’s DNA.

The collection’s launch tour will continue in the summer with dedicated areas in the label’s stores in Milan, Rome, Miami, Saint-Tropez, Cannes and Porto Cervo, as well as in other top Italian multibrand stores like Russo Capri, Michele Franzese Moda in Naples, Parisi Taormina and Julian Fashion Milano Marittima. Wild Leda Summer is inspired by ‘Leda and the Swan’, a Greek myth often featured in Florentine Renaissance art, and includes ready-to-wear, beachwear, eyewear, tableware and fashion accessories, with seasonal hits like the Roar Bag and the Le Pettegole slingback pumps.
 

At the collection’s presentation cocktail, held at LuisaVia Roma, FashionNetwork.com met with Puglisi and Sergio Azzolari, Roberto Cavalli‘s recently appointed CEO. With the wonderful Wild Leda prints and a party soundtrack in the backdrop, Puglisi and Azzolari talked about the genesis of Wild Leda, and revealed some of the label’s future projects, hinting that “there’s plenty of jungle in the offing.”
 
FashionNetwork.com: How did you come up with the idea of featuring a Renaissance-inspired print in so many different product categories?

Fausto Puglisi: I wanted to toy with a Warhol-style approach, replicating the same concept almost obsessively. It started with a pair of jeans hand-painted by Roberto [Cavalli] in 1994. Right from the start, I fell in love with the contrast between the mythological element in Leda and a casual, so very American object like a pair of jeans. Following the runway show’s success, we hit on the idea of designing several exclusive capsule collections, staging a genuine tour, with a different focus for each show. Besides the original print, the slip dress is the thread running through Wild Leda Summer, an item that, alongside the kaftan, is an emblem of femininity and freedom for me, in true Cavalli spirit.
 

During the evening, Azzolari talked to FashionNetwork.com about the label’s new approach. Cavalli is keen on “a philosophy that goes beyond fashion’s rituals and traditions, introducing collections and special projects that illustrate the label’s spirit,” he said, adding that there are several novelties on the cards for 2023.  
 
FashionNetwork.com: What are your retail projects for 2023?

Sergio Azzolari: Expansion in the USA is one of the main goals in this area for 2023, with flagship store openings in the second half of the year in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, following the opening in Miami last December.
 
FN: Are you planning new developments in Europe too?

SA: We do have important projects for this region too but we don’t want to jinx them, and we’d rather keep our cards close to our chest for now.
 
FN: Any new products on the horizon, despite the fact that the Cavalli range now covers almost every category?

SA: We will certainly continue to extend our made-to-measure service, for which there is increasing demand and which is proving very successful. Not only that: Cavalli’s relationship with the music world was and remains special, and stars like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift are wearing exclusive stage outfits created for them by Fausto [Puglisi], proof of the vitality and planetary success of Cavalli’s couture. In 2023, we will also launch new, iconic Roberto Cavalli sneakers, in both men’s and women’s versions. It is the missing piece in our range, a unique, distinctive, unforgettable and highly recognisable shoe that will be on the market at the end of the year.”
 

Azzolari also told us about the new e-commerce website, now completely managed in-house, which will be live from September: one of the many objectives the brand set itself and managed to achieve on time. Last but not least, there are also many novelties on the hospitality front. “After Dubai, there will in fact be other surprises, but for details on the new Cavalli Resorts, we will have to be patient a little longer,” concluded  Azzolari.