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LONDON, United Kingdom — Peter Dundas has been appointed the new creative director of Italian fashion brand Roberto Cavalli, effective immediately.
The Norwegian designer will present his first collection at Milan Fashion Week in September. Earlier this month, Dundas presented his final collection for Emilio Pucci, where he has served as creative director since 2008. Pucci has yet to announce a successor.
The move is a return to Cavalli for Dundas, who served as the brand’s chief designer from 2002 to 2005, before moving to work as creative director at Emanuel Ungaro and, subsequently, joining Pucci, which is owned by LVMH.
In October 2013, Pucci announced plans to expand in product categories such as shoes and bags, and increase its global store count. New flagships in Paris and New Delhi followed, as well as a licencing deal with luxury eyewear company Marcolin Group in June 2014. Laudomia Pucci, vice president, image director and the daughter of the company's late founder, has been the company’s interim CEO since former chief executive Alessandra Carra departed the company in March 2014.
2014 was a turbulent year for the Roberto Cavalli brand. Two senior executives — CEO Gianluca Brozzetti and Carlo Di Biagio, chief operations officer — exited the business, while the label’s hunt for investment also intensified. Following talks with InvestmentCorp and VTB Capital, it was reported, in December, that Cavalli was in talks to sell a significant majority stake in the business to Italian private equity firm Clessidra SGR SpA.
