Roberto Cavalli opened his first nightclub in Dubai on Thursday. It doesn’t look much like the renderings we’ve been gazing at lustfully since last July. But it was expensive and in this economy, that’s all that matters. The $30 million venture boasts the requisite restaurant, Swarovski crystals hanging from the ceiling, and furniture with animal-print upholstery. Unexpected bonus features include a sushi bar and boutique selling jewelry, watches, and Cavalli’s favorite Italian food, which could translate to fatty meats on the dance floor. But who cares as long as it’s expensive enough? Maybe they have salami girls who carry it out in fancy ice buckets with sparklers followed by a great show of foam and laser lights bursting forth from ceiling — the recession’s champagne! The club was supposed to open last fall but construction delayed the opening (you know — TopShop syndrome). “Beautiful things are expensive and take time to create,” Cavalli said. Emphasis on expensive, because this is Dubai, the land of opulence, and even though it has taken a particularly hard blow in this economy, ventures like the Cavalli Club are proof that its spirit shall flag not. Cavalli hopes to open another club in Milan next month. Maybe Dubai is like a testing ground, kind of like how Beyoncé started her world tour in Canada.
