Cavalli kits out footie boys

Footballers are more fickle than supermodels when it comes to switching their allegiances to favourite fashion designers. First they only wore Armani and Versace, then they wouldn't be seen out on the town unless clad head-to-toe in Gucci. Now, thanks to David Beckham, officially our Best-Dressed Man, Roberto Cavalli is the latest designer favoured for off-field antics.

Last weekend, the England captain sported an extravagant £500 Cavalli silk shirt to David Furnish's 40th birthday party. He had modelled the top for a magazine fashion shoot and was so taken with it that he kept it on. Elton loved the shirt so much he went out and bought himself one.

Freddie Ljungberg, the fashion-conscious Arsenal midfielder, is also a big fan of the exuberant Italian designer and can often be seen wearing his easy-to-spot clothing.

"Men want to look good and be noticed, but still look masculine, and Roberto Cavalli is perfect for that," says Giovanni Bolandrini, the owner of Vertice, the shop on South Molton Street which introduced the flamboyant menswear to London, and where 25-year-old Ljungberg buys his clothes. "Men are much more knowledgeable about fashion and they come in to ask for Cavalli. It's becoming really popular."

After years of minimalist dressing, Cavalli's ornate approach to fashion is enjoying something of a renaissance. He has been called the new Versace, but the description would be more accurate the other way round. The designer, now in his sixties, unleashed his first collection of wild, high-octane glamour on the world in 1970 and he spent the rest of that decade living it up, visiting the Còte d'Azur in his helicopter and hanging out with beautiful women.

He judged the Miss Universe 1977 competition and the winner, an Austrian called Eva, 20 years his junior, fell for his Seventies sex-god looks - all conker-coloured skin, leonine mane and medallions - and became his wife (they're still together and he still looks like a playboy).

Cavalli's collections usually include holographic hot pants, garishly boldly-printed chiffon and rhinestonestudded trousers - and that's just for the men. In the staid world of menswear, this irreverence is what encourages young celebrities with a bit of fashion confidence to snap up his stuff.

"Men in the public eye are realising that they now need to compete with the women to get attention," says Damian Foxe, the editor of FHM Collections. "Footballers are incredibly influential when it comes to menswear. Men are starting to get braver with fashion and they want that bravery to be noticed.

"Cavalli is the label if you want to make a statement. It's more exclusive than Versace. Shops have such a small stock of it, menswear in particular, that when you buy something you know nobody else will have it. It's not about discreet, intellectual fashion, it's about standing out, rock 'n' roll and in-your-face fabulousness.î

If that sounds just you, then go and try some on. But, unless you're under 28 and have the body of an Adonis, it might be best to leave it to the premiership boys. For the rest, Mr Armani's loose-fitting suits can be a lot more forgiving.