Died on Friday in his hometown of Florence, aged 83, the great fashion designer, Roberto Cavalli. By his side in the last hours was his partner Sandra Bergman Nilsson.

The Italian fashion designer had been dealing with serious health problems for many years. He leaves behind six children, the youngest of whom is Giorgio, just one year old.

Cavalli came from a family of artists, as his grandfather Giuseppe Rossi was a leading figure in the Macchiaioli movement, with works exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Cavalli brought his artistic sensibility to his fashion designs after studying at the Art Institute of Florence.

He launched his eponymous fashion brand in 1970, unveiling his first collection at the Salon du Prêt-à-Porter in Paris.

In the early 1970s he invented and patented an innovative leather printing process, and opened his first small shop, Limbo, in St Tropez in 1972.

In 2011, he signed licenses for several products under his brand, including fragrances, spirits, furniture, wallpaper, tiles and home textiles. In 2014, he wrote an autobiography titled “Just Me!” (Only Me).

In 2015 he decided to sell his company and dedicate himself to his family. He loved Florence, where he lived in his last years.

He recently baptized his last child, Giorgio, who is only one year old. In this way he wanted to honor the name of his father, who in 1944 was executed by the Nazis, in the city of Arezzo in central Italy.