Roberto Cavalli Appoints English Designer Paul Surridge as New Creative Director

The Central Saint Martins grad most recently served as the creative consultant for Acne Studios.

Author:
Maura Brannigan
Updated:
Oct 16, 2018
Original:
May 10, 2017

Six months after Roberto Cavalli first announced that Peter Dundas was set to depart his post as creative director, and after just three seasons, the Milan-fashion fashion house has landed on his replacement. Early on Wednesday, Roberto Cavalli announced that it has appointed English designer Paul Surridge to the top design role, effective immediately. His first collection will debut with the women's Spring 2018 season and will be shown during Milan Fashion Week in September.

Albeit under the radar, Surridge joins Roberto Cavalli with quite a bit of weighty design experience — and with some of the industry's biggest players — under his belt. A Central Saint Martins grad, he began his career at Calvin Klein in the '90s before joining Christopher Bailey at Burberry from 2003-2007. In 2007, he was named Jil Sander's design director men under Raf Simons, and from 2011-2014, he served as the creative director of Z Zegna. Most recently, Surridge was a creative consultant for Acne Studios, responsible for overseeing all activities related to the Swedish label's menswear.

That's a lot of menswear experience for a role that subsists so heavily on women's collections. Surridge addressed that in a statement:

I am honored 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. 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.

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