Paul Surridge has been appointed as the new creative director of Roberto Cavalli.
Paul Surridge
The fashion designer is set to helm the designer Italian fashion house following the departure of Peter Dundas from the role in October last year, and the businessman is "honoured" to take over the prestigious company and carry on the "extraordinary" legacy.
Speaking about his latest venture, the creative mastermind said: "I am honoured and proud to carry forward the legacy of this extraordinary Italian house. This is a unique opportunity to contribute a new chapter to the Roberto Cavalli universe, which positively celebrates the beauty, sensuality, and power of women."
And Paul - who previously worked for Calvin Klein, Burberry and Jil Sander with fellow designer Raf Simons - intends to demonstrate his "passion" for the luxury label, which was founded by Roberto Cavalli in 1970.
He explained: "It is my intention to show the passion I share for the codes and vision on which Roberto Cavalli built his brand while celebrating the excellence of Italian craftsmanship."
And Paul is set to launch his debut collection under the company in September this year.
The Central Saint Martins alumni was hand-picked out of "a lot of candidates" by Roberto Cavalli's CEO Gian Giacomo Ferraris because he has a "distinctive creative quality", although Gian has revealed the decision-making process was "not easy".
He told Business of Fashion said: "We met a lot of candidates, a lot of them showed great creative potential, which made the decision not easy, but the [reason] we selected Paul is that next to his distinctive creative quality, he show a strong interest in further developing the code of the house
"On top of this, he is a great team leader, and has a great sensibility for digital communication, and he can really interpret and play a role in the future DNA of Roberto Cavalli. So this is instinctively what makes me enthusiastic about this decision.
"I have to say the first time we explored the name of Paul Surridge, it was a surprise. Now everybody knows that it was a logical decision; it was a natural decision. Having met Paul - with his enthusiastic approach and his creative, modern vision - we think that he's the perfect person to work with us to make our Italian fashion brand famous and successful in the next year."
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