Roberto Cavalli Club decides to flout the law

One Monday morning in Spring, residents of Florence's centre woke up to find that a historic corner of the town - and the only space for children of the local kindergarten to play in - had been taken up by a gigantic metal outdoors extension of the Roberto Cavalli Club, managed by Joseph Danilo Jacoviello, son-in-law of the designer Roberto Cavalli.

The piece of Florence, right next to the Carmine Church (famous for paintings by Masaccio and Filippino Lippi, among others) had been handed over by a minor town office for the paltry sum of little more than 2.000 Euros.

Parents of the kindergarten and residents united to protest against this sellout of their rights. The protest was also attended by Matteo Renzi, who became mayor of Florence a few days later.

The deputy mayor of Florence made a public declaration that permission for the Roberto Cavalli Club dehors would not be renewed on its expiry, on September 13.

The construction should therefore have been dismantled on September 13, and the square given back to the citizens and children.

The Roberto Cavalli Club has decided, instead, to flout the law publicly: fourteen days after expiry of the permit, the structure is not only still there, but is regularly used to seat the guests of the Club.

This is by no means the first time the Roberto Cavalli Club has broken the law: for example, on May 25, 2009, the police raided the Roberto Cavalli Club, discovering that it was being used illegally as a disco, without having any permit or fulfilling the relevant safety requirements.

We call on all those around the world who love Florence to support the residents of the historic centre of Florence against this act of arrogance.

Roberto Cavalli Club, as hundreds of Florentines demonstrate against it, future mayor of Florence signs petition to close down its monumental entrance

Hundreds of residents of the old part of Florence demonstrated on Wednesday, June 17, to close down the monumental entrance to the Cavalli Club in Piazza del Carmine in Florence.

Matteo Renzi, who almost certainly will win the ballot on Sunday to become the new mayor of Florence, attended the demonstration and signed the petition launched by the parents of the Fioretta Mazzei kindergarten against the gigantic glass and steel structure which has taken away the area where the children used to play.

This monumental entrance to the Cavalli Club stands next to the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, one of Florence's most important monuments

Matteo Renzi, candidate mayor, signs the petition and promises not to renew permission for the Roberto Cavalli monumental entrance should he be elected.


Children invent new ways to use the Cavalli platform


Holding hands, hundreds of residents, parents and children dance around the monumental entrance


Joseph Danilo Jacoviello (left), Cavalli Club owner and son-in-law of Roberto Cavalli, observes the demonstration with a worried look


Martino Zingarelli and Angela Esposito, famous Florentine street artists, prepare a painting with the children

Come to the sit-in against the Roberto Cavalli Club in Florence

On June 17, at 7 p.m., the parents of the Fioretta Mazzei kindergarten are organizing a sit-in in front of the Roberto Cavalli Club in Piazza del Carmine in Florence.

The Roberto Cavalli Club, which stands next to one of the most significant monuments of Italian art, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine, has put up a gigantic steel structure, a kind of monument to kitsch design, which takes up the only open space left in the area, blocking out the light from the windows of the kindergarten and taking up the space where children used to play.

A symptomatic episode of how one of the most beautiful cities in the world is being sold out to private interests.

All who appreciate what is left of our city will be most welcome at the sit-in.

To appreciate the picture - cavalli in Italian means "horses

The Cavalli Club's steely idea of Florence

The Cavalli Club takeover in Piazza del Carmine... the huge, fixed steel structure in front, blocking out the light from the windows of the kindergarten (in the background).