Giacomo Cavalli was sailing for the Italian national team and studying economics when a scout approached him at an airport. The Olympic campaign needed sponsorship, so he gave modeling a try, and it took off fast. Three years later, with his master’s finished and the sailing career closed, he went full-time. The athlete who showed up in the agency office has shaped his casting ever since.

He has spent recent seasons inside the rotation of brands selling a clean sportswear look. Banana Republic has cast him across consecutive seasons in Sicily, Mallorca, Deià, and Sri Lanka, light-and-linen settings that suit a man who grew up working a boat.

Calvin Klein has brought him in across multiple chapters, from minimalist linen lookbooks to a homegrown underwear campaign, a run that confirmed the relationship.

Earlier work for Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Bulgari, Brooks Brothers, Canali, and Nautica fills out a portfolio that runs through Italian tailoring on one side and East Coast classics on the other. The crossover sits naturally on him because he lived both sides of it before fashion got there.