Volkswacht Bodensee - Italian designer Roberto Cavalli dead at 83: Italian media

Italian news agency ANSA reported that the designer died at home in Florence, the city where he was born, after a long illness.

First seen in the 1970s on stars such as Sophia Loren and Brigitte Bardot, his skin-baring, eye-popping styles were still favoured years on by later generations of celebrities, from Kim Kardashian to Jennifer Lopez.

Cavalli had a taste for Ferraris, fat cigars and tailored shirts unbuttoned to expose his tanned chest. He married a Miss Universe runner-up, owned a purple helicopter and a Tuscan vineyard, and was on a first-name basis with Hollywood A-listers.

Born November 15, 1940 in Florence, Italy's premier leatherworking centre, Cavalli was known for his use of printed leather and stretchy, sand-blasted jeans.

The designer was tapped in 2005 to update the Playboy Bunnies' scanty uniform -- true to form, he introduced one version in leopard print.

F.Mueller--VB