Men were walking by him, past him, alongside him, men with fur coats and bags of flour, with sacks of sugar and ceiling fixtures, with faucets, tables, chair legs, upholstery ripped from the walls of ancient Turkish houses that had fallen in the raid.

NEWYORKER: The Tiger��s Wife

But as my grandfather listened to Vladisa, who was sobbing about orange fur and stripes, it became clearer and clearer to him that this devil on the mountain was something else.

NEWYORKER: The Tiger��s Wife

In between, we see him studying horses in motion, recording the limp paws and coppery fur of a dead fox, and capturing the slump of a tired violinist accompanying a ballet class, all in preparation for paintings.

WSJ: Fine Lines | Frick Collection | Brooklyn Museum | by Karen Wilkin

His fondness for bright color, exotics, fur and bold prints -- which he designs in his factory on the outskirts of Florence -- have won him a name as the king of fashion excess.

CNN: Fashion's peacock: Designer Roberto Cavalli

Film director Roman Polanski had invited him to a snazzy cafe to talk more about adapting his Tony Award-nominated play "Venus in Fur" into a movie when the pair spotted the chic "God of Carnage" playwright Yasmina Reza sitting with a distinguished-looking gentleman.

WSJ: Playwright David Ives finds his timing perfectly