Waiting for the appointed new creative director Paul Surridge to make his debut in September, the design team transitioned Roberto Cavalli’s Resort collection into safe territory, ticking all the right boxes of its established vocabulary. Animal print: tick. Jungle fever vibe: tick. Underwater world inspiration: tick. It was an exercise in updating familiar codes, made with an assured, stylish hand. Nothing new under the sun; but when you have such a strong heritage and the archive is so extensive that fishing for inspiration becomes the most pleasurable sport, why bother?
Shells and coral and sea anemones and floating kelp were then extracted from the underwater Cavalli world and splashed onto signature ultrafeminine summer dresses, becoming sensuous printed motifs for floaty numbers, off-the-shoulders tops, capri pants, or knitted jacquard long sundresses. A bit of savage, instinctive feel can’t be ignored chez Cavalli; the mermaid then travelled to the Amazon, losing herself in lush tropical foliage, chasing exotic butterflies, mesmerizing snakes, and charming wild animals. Wearing long slip dresses printed with abstract tropical motifs, or sequined dark see-through dramatic dresses, she morphed into the sexiest exotic flower.
Elsewhere in the lineup, a focus on daywear kept things more grounded in the vagaries of our reality. Shapely linen safari jackets were worn with slouchy cargo pants for a utilitarian feel; leather wrap miniskirts were paired with simple satin shirts printed with snakeskin motifs on lamé. A pantsuit in black canvas was neatly cut, the jacket cinched at the waist with a trompe l’oeil effect of a chiffon blouse peeking out at the hem. Complemented by skinny trousers and high heels, it was the epitome of the sexy, alluring daywear one can expect from the glamorous Cavalli world.
