(Rome) Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli, designer of the jet set for decades thanks to his python skins and flamboyant prints, died Friday at the age of 83, Italian media reported.
The Italian agency ANSA said that the designer died at his home in his hometown of Florence after a long illness.
Couteur to stars of the 70s like Brigitte Bardot or Sophia Loren, for whom he created outfits generously revealing the skin and shapes, he continued to seduce celebrities of more recent generations, from Kim Kardashian to Jennifer Lopez.
Cavalli loved Ferraris, big cigars, and tight shirts wide open on a perpetually tanned chest. He’d married a Miss Universe finalist, owned a purple helicopter and a vineyard in Tuscany, and was up and down with the who’s who of Hollywood.
Born on November 15, 1940 in Florence, the world capital of leather goods, he was known for his printed leathers and faded jeans.
In 2005, he redesigned the Playboy Bunnies micro outfits, with a leopard print version.