A Italian fashion icon shut down, Roberto Cavall

designer Roberto Cavally died in Florence at the age of 83.

It has long been treated for a serious illness that could not survive.

Cavall came from a family of artists after his grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a leading figure of Macchiaioli movement, with works displayed at the Uffiz Gallery in Florence. Cavall brought his artistic sensitivity to his fashion models after studies at the Florence Art Institute.

He marketed his fashion brand in 1970, revealing his first collection at Salon du Prêt-à-Porter in Paris, held at Porte de Versailles.

In the early 1970s, he invented and patented an innovative process of printing into the skin and opened his first small shop, called Limbo, in Saint Tropez in 1972, which was so successful that next year he was invited to show his skin articles, in Sala Biance in Florence, along with Missouri, Krisia, Fendi and Basile.

After his first marriage to Silvanella Giannoon in 1977, Cavali served as judge at the Miss Universe contest in the Dominican Republic, where she met with contestants Eva Maria Dürtinger, whom she married in 1980.

She became his main associate and was appointed creative director of his brand in 1994.

Together they had three children: Rachel, Danielle and Robin. From Giannon, he had two children: Cristiana and Tommaso.

Earlier this year, Cavali became the father of Giorgio, his father's name, model Sandra Nilsson-Bergman. Not by chance, in 2015 the designer donated the island of Stora Rullingen to Nilsson-Bergman, Sweden, as a token of his love.

Of course, Cavally's own life reflected the splendor and power of his fashion collections with bold animal printing, twisted jeans, and sexy dresses that made it a family success, even snatching one of the first H&M agreements in 2007.

At that time his fame was such that the crowds lined up outside the doors of the Fifth Avenue brand shop and a fan even took a cigar of Cavalla thrown and stored in a plastic bag as a memory.

He was to sail the Mediterranean with his metal yacht RC, entertaining friends and celebrities, and there were many who over the years carried Cavally on the red carpet, from Charlyze Theron and Gwyneth Paltrow to Madonna.

By smoking cigars, he was never afraid to speak and express his thoughts, whether by questioning minimalism or by discussing sex, cheating, or what he viewed as bad fashion.