Roberto Cavalli to Redesign Playboy Bunny Costume

How do you say bunny in Italian?

Forget designing uniforms for waitstaff. Roberto Cavalli's new gig is way sexier: redesigning the Playboy bunny costume.

Playboy approached Cavalli to design the updated costume for the future Playboy venues at the new tower of the Palms Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. Scheduled to open in early 2006, the tower will include a boutique casino and lounge, a nightclub, a retail store, and a two-story Hugh Hefner sky villa.

Cavalli's will be the first reinterpretation of the costume in more than a quarter century.

The bunny costume was first introduced at the original Playboy Club in Chicago in 1960, and began as a modified one-piece swimsuit with the addition of collar, cuffs, and the legendary rabbit ears and cottontail.

Over time, the leg-cut became higher, a rosette with the Bunny's name was added, and the fabrics and colors enhanced.

Cavalli is expected to reveal his concept later this year, which will likely be worn by select Playboy bunnies alongside the traditional bunny costume.

"The Bunny Costume has undergone only modest changes over the years, so as to maintain its identity and special character," says Playboy Chairman and CEO Christie Hefner.

"Roberto Cavalli is the perfect designer to reinterpret the magic of the original design, as he, too, embraces the