Review of Roberto Cavalli Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Animal Magnetism
By Mark Wittmer
For Fall 2023, Roberto Cavalli emarks on a journery to the American Southwest. Creative director Fausto Puglisi draws inspiration from two very different muses – socialite, heiress, and art collector Millicent Rogers and legendary painter Georgia O’Keeffe – who were famously drawn to the landscape of New Mexico, and lived the later parts of their lives there.
The collection sees the iconic Roberto Cavalli look suffused with references to this landscape and its cultural history, as well as the defiant self-expression shared in very different ways by the its two muses.
Of course it wouldn’t be Cavalli without a good dose of animal print, and most of these looks come right at the beginning of the collection; cheetah spots and tiger stripes slash across form fitting silk dresses that billow cascade to the floor or billowing capes. But these looks are illuminated by the American Southwest’s most enduring and recognizable art practices: silver and turquoise jewelry. Created by the Navajo and Zuni peoples, who blended their ancient craft and use of jewelry with smithing skills learned from Hispanic blacksmiths, turquoise and silver jewelry became a globally renowned craft thanks in part to Millicent Rogers.
For the most part, Puglisi deploys the craft subtly, using it as a smart dress fastener or more typically in necklaces and earrings, while allowing for a few moments where it becomes the main event, like the mail dress that references one of Paco Rabanne’s most iconic pieces.
(The brand hasn’t yet shared what craftspeople they worked with to create these pieces. We’re hoping they teamed with some of the many skilled indigenous American artists working to keep their heritage alive – not to do so would feel like a missed opportunity, and could feel accusations of cultural appropriation and colonialism.)
Leatherwork comes to the fore as well. Patchwork pieces stitch together – sometimes with boro techniques and sometimes with gold chains for a bit of bling – differently dyed leather with leather embossed to resemble ostrich or crocodile, making for an earthy and adventurous energy.
Denim looks similarly balance eclectic scrappiness and energetic elegance. Degradé and patchwork bring surfaces to life like layered landscapes or modernist abstract paintings; elsewhere, silk is printed to resemble denim, or pieced together with it, while black lace sinuously slinks up and down the body. The earthy browns and blues are loudly punctuated by a few slashes of sunset pink.
Faux fur (the Cavalli woman is wild, not cruel) coats round out the sense of restrained ferociousness while harking back to the kind of vintage, eclectic elegance embodied by an heiress art collector.
A few menswear looks are shown as well, a move that Puglisi has made in the past, but rarely, and not for a few seasons. But the move feels apt for a brand and a collection that so fiercely dedicates itself to people who boldly embrace self-expression. And while the collection is nicely styled here, many of these pieces also totally suggest themselves to being incorporated into a distinct wardrobe.
It’s not for everyone – that’s the whole point. But for those brave enough to make the world of Roberto Cavalli their own, Fausto Puglisi has done it again.
