Tyla and Carla Bruni have both worn Fausto Puglisi’s fall 2025 collection for Roberto Cavalli in the last few weeks. Puglisi is a go-to designer for celebs on the paparazzi circuit, whether they’re looking for something wild like Tyla’s ultra-mini slip dress or something more restrained but still statement-making à la Bruni’s bias-cut number. Yes, Puglisi’s Cavalli is sometimes discreet—certainly more than the house founder’s ever was. That’s one way he’s made the brand his own since he assumed the creative director role amidst the pandemic.
Another way he’s done that is to bring his own preoccupations to his Cavalli collections. This season, he revived the color-blocking that defined his earliest work for his eponymous label a dozen years ago. He said he was inspired to do so by a recent visit to Mexico City—the colorful buildings in the Condesa neighborhood, in particular, sparked his interest—and a catalogue from a 1994 Jeff Koons show at the Guggenheim that he stumbled across. “When I started my own collection, I was in love with colors and geometrical patterns,” he said. “It’s not very Cavalli, but I just thought, the world is already complicated. Let’s make a collection that people can understand easily—and bring a sense of happiness and joy.”
Puglisi’s color-blocking and Cavalli’s animalier motifs came together on car coats and slip dresses—leopard spots enlivening vivid acid shades. He also played with florals, opting for more of an English garden bouquet vibe than the hothouse motifs that have long been associated with this label. Denim got a lot of attention too, it being an RC specialty. One pair of jeans was fused with leopard chiffon then put in the stone-washing machine for a look that Puglisi described as “destroyed.” The piece most likely to spark joy is a floor-length floral print slip dress with denim corsetry details that laced up the spine: pretty in front, party in the back. His tailoring has also been getting a lot of play with celebrities. Jane Fonda wore a race car-red version of the elongating pantsuit that appears here in electric fuchsia jacquard.
