One month ago Roberto Cavalli said his licensing deal with Ittierre SpA was “as good as finished.” The contract doesn’t expire until 2010, but Cavalli was upset about the state of his fall 2009 Just Cavalli line. Ittierre, which had to file for the Italian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, shipped the samples for the runway show late. So Cavalli canceled his Just Cavalli show and loudly blamed Ittierre for it at the small, no-frills presentation he staged instead. He also said half of what Ittierre sent was of really crappy quality. Ittierre even planned to sue Cavalli for all the nasty things he said about them. But WWD reports today that within 24 hours, Cavalli could sign a deal to renew his contract with Ittierre for five years.
The change of heart could have something to do with Cavalli selling a stake in his brand. Yesterday, we learned he was in talks to sell a 20 percent stake to an Italian private equity firm. Smoothing things over with Ittierre strengthens Cavalli’s position in those negotiations. But who knows if that will happen since, as this Ittierre business only proves, this man is so unpredictable. Like — dare we say — an animal in the wild.
