ICON DEAD. With heavy hearts, we announce the passing

Roberto Cavalli, a fashion designer, has died at the age of 83.

It is thought that the Italian is worth more than £400 million ($497 million). He comes from a family of artists.

For decades, he was the darling of the international jet set thanks to his love of pythons and flashy animal prints.

ANSA, an Italian news agency, said that Cavalli died after a long illness at home in Florence.

According to an Instagram post by Sergio Azzolari, CEO of Roberto Cavalli, the company is sorry for Mr. Cavalli’s death and sends its condolences to his family.

Cavalli liked Ferraris, big cigars, and not buttoning his dress shirts to show off his tanned chest.

He owned a purple helicopter and a vineyard in Tuscany. He knew many famous people in Hollywood by their first names.

Sandy Nilsson, a Swedish model 45 years younger than him, has been his partner since 2014.

He became a dad for the sixth time when his partner had a boy last year.

The famous fashion designer said they would name the new employee Giorgio in honor of his father, who was killed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

During that time, he told the magazine Novella 2000, “Sandra is fine.”

“The baby was born a week ago in Florence. He is beautiful, and seeing him right after he was born made me cry big tears.”

“His name is Giorgio, like his grandfather, my father whom the Nazis shot in the Cavriglia massacre when I was four years old.”

Roberto had two kids with Silvanella Giannoni, whom he married for the first time in 1964 and then divorced ten years later. Their names are Tommaso and Cristina.

He also has three children from his second marriage to Eva Maria Duringer, who used to be Miss Europe. Their names are Robert, Rachele, and Daniele.

Roberto has talked a lot about how hard it was for him to grow up after his father was killed, which left him mute until he was 18.

“My father was shot by the Germans in July 1944 during a raid on Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni,” he had said before.

“He worked as a surveyor for a mine in the Valdarno.” I didn’t talk until 18.

“But life has been kind to me [and I have been] rewarded for everything.”

Cavalli was born on November 15, 1940, in Florence, Italy, which is the best place in the world to work with leather. He was famous for using printed leather and sandblasted, stretchy jeans.

The fashion icon started the business that bears his name in 1975. It quickly became famous for its animal print clothes.

Rich celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce love the clothes it makes.

He was asked to update the Playboy Bunnies’ skimpy uniform in 2005, and as usual, he came up with one in leopard print.

Cavalli was praised by Giorgio Armani, who called him a “true artist” and said he would be “greatly missed.”

Armani said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter): “I have never had a more different view of fashion than Roberto Cavalli’s, but I have always had a lot of respect for him. Roberto was a true artist, and his use of prints was wild and wonderful. He could turn fantasy into seductive clothes.”

“I have learnt with great sadness of his passing: his Tuscan verve will be greatly missed.”