Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Italy, in 1944. He attended the Florence Art Academy. He is a Scorpio. He is the grandson of Guiseppe Rossi, the great Florentine impressionist painter. Cavalli started his career in 1965 when he was 21 years old, painting T-shirts with a girl he knew from art school. Then he set up a factory to do the printing, with a few young men, then by accident in the early 1970's he began to paint on skin which was the first time anyone had done it. The girls who summered at Capri and St. Tropez adored it. Italian Vogue took notice of the young Cavalli. In October 2002, in New York, the Fashion Group International voted Cavalli as the Designer of the Year, at a glittering function attended by all the New York fashion celebrities. He accepted the award gratefully saying "This means America accepts me". Roberto Cavalli fragrances are made in association with perfumers Olivier Polge, Olivier Cresp, Jean-Charles Niel, Nathalie Lorson, Karine Dubreuil, Mathilde Bijaoui, Alberto Morillas, Maurice Roucel and Jacques Cavallier.