The lighting at the Roberto Cavalli show on Saturday illuminated exactly the path the brand needs to walk if it wants the investment deal with the private equity firm Clessidra to go through.

The long catwalk was lit by a number of impressive chandeliers. But they didn't come crafted in the more familiar Murano glass gilded style. Rather, they were constructed from halogen tube lights. Making the chandeliers both traditional and modern at the same time. Cavalli, too, needs to find a way to bring these elements together on the catwalk.

As it was, the common thread in the designer's lineup felt a bit frayed. There was little to link the animal print ensembles that opened the show with the shaggy plaid pieces or the short lace dresses bisected by chinoiserie flower prints that appeared later in the collection.

What did filter through was the impressive amount of work that went into each outfit. Every flat surface was festooned with sequin, inserted with lace or embroidered with beading. And then there was the fringe and the plissé fabrics that added another dimensionality to the come-hither collection.

In actuality, it was in the final evening look that the show really came together. The calculated use of flowing fringe on sporty knit-based dresses found that perfect mix of modernity and familiarity. And the show finished strong with flowing plissé gowns, pinched together to create diamond-shaped openings that exposed bits of skin at the waist, in degradé shades.

What can you say…? Cavalli just knows how to do red carpet attire with a flair unlike anyone else.