Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2027

Fausto Puglisi has never been particularly interested in moderation, and Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2027 makes that clear from the first look. Inspired by everything from Antonello da Messina’s Renaissance Madonna to Sex and the City, Los Angeles beach culture and the Cavalli wardrobe of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the collection throws references together with the same confidence that it throws feathers, crystals, fur and embroidery onto its clothes. It should be chaotic, and often is, but there is a logic underneath it: Cavalli is a house built on excess, and Puglisi is increasingly comfortable treating that excess as the point rather than something to be refined away.

The collection is particularly effective when it moves away from the traditional Cavalli gown and into separates. Denim micro-minis, skinny flared jeans, hot pants and tiny shorts become the foundation for sheer tops, lace-trimmed camisoles and long silk robes. Animal prints, devoré velvet, sunflowers, sparkly fringe and embellished denim collide almost indiscriminately. At times the styling becomes so dense that individual pieces struggle to register, but the most successful looks understand that Cavalli’s sensuality works best when there is some tension between the ordinary and the outrageous — a pair of jeans made extravagant rather than an evening gown made louder.

There is also an interesting nostalgia running through the collection. Puglisi looked towards the Cavalli worn by the Sex and the City cast around the turn of the millennium, when printed tops, low-rise denim and unapologetically sexy dressing were part of the New York fashion vocabulary. But this is not an archive exercise. The jeans are shredded with embellishment, skirts sparkle with gold and shells, and dresses dissolve into long strips of fabric that recall Stevie Nicks’ ’70s glamour. The Renaissance references add another layer, with the colours of da Messina’s painting appearing in slip dresses and ruffled pieces. It is a messy cultural collage, but one that feels deliberately contemporary in its refusal to choose between high art, pop culture and nightlife.

The danger is that Puglisi’s maximalism can become so predictable that excess itself stops feeling excessive. There are moments when every available surface seems to demand decoration, leaving little room for silhouette or restraint to create contrast. Yet that may also be the argument behind SS27. At a moment when much of fashion has spent years refining, simplifying and neutralising itself, Puglisi is making a case for clothes that are excessive simply because they can be. Roberto Cavalli does not need to become quieter to feel relevant. Under Puglisi, its identity remains rooted in sex, print, movement and spectacle — and this season, the volume is turned all the way up.