Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Italy, on November 15, 1940. In the early 1970s, he invented and patented a printing process on leather and began creating a mix of different materials. He debuted with these techniques in Paris, immediately getting supplies from Hermès and Pierre Cardin.
At the age of 32, he presented his first eponymous collection at the Salon for Prêt-à-Porter in Paris. He brought it to the catwalks of Sala Bianca at Palazzo Pitti in Florence and later to those of Milano Collezioni. He then opened his first boutique in 1972, in Saint-Tropez.
In Milan in 1994, Cavalli introduced the first sand-blasted jeans. By December of that year, he had opened a boutique in Saint Barth in the French Caribbean, followed by another in Venice. In addition to the main collection, which is sold in over fifty countries worldwide, Roberto Cavalli designs the RC Menswear, the youth line "Just Cavalli," as well as accessories and fragrances.
