Valentino
Encyclopedia
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (born 11 May 1932), best known as Valentino, is an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Valentino SpA
brand and company. His main lines were Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, and R.E.D. Valentino.
, Lombardy, northern Italy, when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini
. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
His first choice for an apprenticeship, in Paris, was Jacques Fath
, then Balenciaga
. He found an apprenticeship with Jean Desses
where he used to help style icon countess Jacqueline de Ribes
sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche
for 2 years. At Jean Desses
, Valentino sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for the daily 2:30 pm private showings. Most of his early sketches were lost. At a Rome exhibition in 1991 a smattering went on display and current clients at that time such as Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
and Elizabeth Taylor
marveled that the DNA of Valentino's style was already apparent in the layers of white pleats and animal prints.
After five years, Valentino left Jean Desses
under a cloud over an incident about prolonging a vacation in Saint-Tropez
that still makes him wriggle uncomfortably today. Rescued by his friend Guy Laroche
, he joined his "tiny, tiny" fashion house. After discussions with his parents, he decided to return to Italy and set up in Rome in 1959.
with the backing of his father and an associate of his. More than an atelier, the premises resembled a real "maison de couture", being it very much on the line of what Valentino had seen in Paris: everything was very grand and models flew in from Paris for his first show. Valentino became known for his red dresses, in the bright shade that became known in the fashion industry as "Valentino red".
On 31 July 1960 Valentino met Giancarlo Giammetti
at the Café de Paris on the Via Veneto
in Rome. One of three children, Giammetti was in his second year of architecture school, living at home with his parents in the haut bourgeois Parioli
section of Northern Rome. That day Giammetti gave Valentino a lift home in his little Fiat and a friendship as well as a long-lasting partnership started. The day after, Giammetti was to leave for Capri for vacation and by coincidence Valentino was also going there so they met again in the island 10 days later. Giammetti would shortly after abandon the University to become Valentino's business partner. When Giammetti arrived, the business situation of Valentino's atelier was in fact not brilliant: in one year he had spent so much money that his father's associate pulled out of the business, and had to fight against bankruptcy.
After the breakthrough show in Florence, Valentino started to dress the ladies of the international best-dressed crowd such as his acquaintance from the Paris years Countess Jacqueline de Ribes
and New York socialites Babe Paley
and Jayne Wrightsman
.
By the mid-1960s he was already considered the undisputed maestro of Italian Couture, receiving in 1967 the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award
, the equivalent of an Oscar in the field of fashion. The Begum Aga Khan, Farah Diba, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
, Lee Radziwill
, Queen Paola of Belgium
, Babe Paley
, Elizabeth Taylor
, Audrey Hepburn
, Gloria Guinness
, Marella Agnelli
, Jayne Wrightsman
, Marisa Berenson
, Veruschka
and Princess Margaret were already customers as well as personal friends.
At some point in 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy had seen Gloria Schiff, the twin sister of the Rome-based fashion editor of American Vogue
and Valentino's friend Consuelo Crespi
, wearing a two-piece ensemble in black organza at a gathering. It made such an impression that Kennedy contacted Ms. Schiff to learn the name of the ensemble's designer, which was Valentino. In September 1964, Valentino was to be in the US to present a collection of his work at a charity ball at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Mrs. Kennedy wanted to see the collection but could not attend the event, so Valentino decided to send a model, sales representative and a selection of key pieces from his collection to Mrs. Kennedy's apartment on Fifth Avenue. Mrs. Kennedy ordered six of his haute couture
dresses, all in black and white, and wore them during her year of mourning following President John F. Kennedy
's assassination. From then on, she was a devoted client and would become a friend. Valentino would later design the white dress worn by Kennedy at her wedding to Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis
.
In 1966, confident of his client base, he moved his shows from Florence to Rome and there, two years later, he had one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection, which became famous for the "V" logo he designed.
and the art icon Andy Warhol
.
, a cultural space located near his atelier in Rome, for the presentation of art exhibitions. The next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor
, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti
created L.I.F.E., an association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino.
sold the company for approximately 800 million Euros (US$1.1 billion) to HdP
, an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agnelli
, the head of Fiat
. In 2002, Valentino S.p.A., with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto
Apparel, a Milan-based textile giant, for $210 million.
His last haute couture show was presented in Paris at the Musée Rodin
on 23 January 2008. It was, however, somewhat marred by his criticism of fellow Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana
, and the death of Australian actor Heath Ledger
although few allowed these things to detract from his final show receiving a standing ovation from the entire audience, which included hundreds of notable names from all areas of show business. Many models returned to show for Valentino's last haute couture show, including Eva Herzigova
, Naomi Campbell
, Claudia Schiffer
, Nadja Auermann
, Karolina Kurkova
and Karen Mulder
.
In 2006 Valentino appeared in a cameo role, as himself, in the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada
. One of the DVD's featurettes is called "Getting Valentino" and shows an interview of the designer and Valentino backstage with the movie's actresses, Meryl Streep
and Anne Hathaway
, his partner Giancarlo Giammetti, and his PRs Carlos de Souza and Charlene Shorto de Ganay.
Valentino: The Last Emperor
a feature-length documentary film on the designer, premiered at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival. Produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, the film follows Valentino and his inner circle throughout various events, including last year's anniversary show celebrating his 45 years of career. In production from June 2005 to July 2007, the filmmakers shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage. "We were let in to the inner circle, but we had to stick it out for a long time, practically move in, to capture the truly great moments", says Tyrnauer. "Valentino is surrounded by a tight-knit family of friends and employees, but, eventually, their guard came down and they forgot there was a camera crew in the room."
The film had its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
.
It was released theatrically in the US on 18 March in New York City and selected cities. Indiewire called it the highest-grossing documentary debut of 2009.
awarded Valentino the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
. "I am very honored", said Valentino, who has received awards from many countries including Italy and the US.
During the festivities for the 45th year of Valentino's career, the Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni
, announced that the site of the Valentino Museum would be a building in via San Teodoro in Rome, between the Palatine hill and the Bocca della Verità (mouth of truth).
The day after he retired, 24 January 2008, Valentino was presented with the Medal of the City of Paris for his services to fashion in the city where he was educated.
On September 7, 2011 Valentino was presented with the sixth annual Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
at a benefit luncheon held at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center in New York City.
In order to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Valentino's career a fashion extravaganza took place in Rome between 6 and 8 July 2007. Festivities started on Thursday 5 July with a dinner for Valentino's assistants and employees at Ristorante Gusto and ended on Sunday 8 July with the launch of a perfume and a brunch at the French Academy of Villa Medici.
The main five exclusive golden invitation cards have been sent from the Valentino headquarters for the main weekend's events:
The fashion setting was two halls called Sala Incisa and Sala Baglivi of the restructured 16th century Santo Spirito in Sassia
complex, next to Castel Sant'Angelo
and the Vatican. Valentino showed about 61 couture dresses, a record number considering an HC show never shows more than 40 gowns. The collection referenced many of the leitmotifs revealed in the retrospective at Ara Pacis and was a tour de force of the flawless and unmatchable techniques that Valentino's brilliant workrooms. The music segued from Mahler's Fifth
to a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Puccini's "O mio babbino caro
" as Valentino took his bow.
Fellow designers who attended—including Karl Lagerfeld
, Giorgio Armani
, Donatella Versace
, Tom Ford
, Diane von Fürstenberg
, Carolina Herrera
, Zac Posen
, Manolo Blahnik
, and Philip Treacy
among them—led the standing ovation, which drew tears from the habitually unflappable designer, who embraced Giancarlo Giammetti
on the runway.
.
Valentino's mother, Teresa, moved from Voghera to Rome to help with the business. Eventually he told both his parents that he was engaged to Italian actress Marilù Tolo
, the only woman he had ever truly loved and with whom he had wished to have children.
, Brazilian brothers Sean and Anthony Souza, as well as their parents, Carlos Souza and socialite Charlene Shorto
de Ganay, Souza's ex-wife, who are both Valentino's public relations representatives. Carlos Souza met Valentino and Giammetti in 1973 in Rio de Janeiro when he was 18 years old. Valentino and Giammetti are also the godfathers of Anthony and Sean. Giammetti confided to Vanity Fair that "this family has stayed together because of me, because when Valentino gets mad he cuts – that is that. I remember when Carlos left and moved to Brazil and married Charlene
. Valentino refused to speak to him, but I always talked to Carlos. Then one day Carlos called and said he had a baby boy, Sean. I handed the phone to Valentino, and he started to cry and cry".
Throughout his career, Valentino has been deeply inspired by many glamorous women. Some of them have become very close friends, making up what is referred to as the Valentino's "family". This includes Spanish socialites Nati Abascal
, a former model who was married to the Duke of Feria
, and Rosario Nadal, the ex-wife of Kyrill, Prince of Preslav
. Valentino met Nati Abascal in 1968 at a party when she was a 19 year old model and brought her to Capri
. Rosario of Bulgaria met Valentino in her native Majorca in the 90s via Carlos Souza at a club. Another close friend of Valentino is his former PR French-Brazilian Georgina Brandolini, who worked for Valentino for 18 years before leaving for Balmain
and ultimately starting her own fashion career.
The Valentino entourage often travels together everywhere around the world for vacation, moving between Valentino's and Giammetti's various homes around the world and in summertime to the yacht, where for a period in the 90s, Giammetti made everyone except Valentino do needlepoint.
Valentino's PR Daniela Giardina, architect Tommaso Ziffer
, a close friend of Giancarlo Giammetti, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow
are also part of the group. Since Marzotto group's acquisition of Valentino from HdP
group, Matteo Marzotto and his socialite mother Marta Marzotto often join the party.
Oliver. Today Valentino owns six pug
s: the mother, Molly; her sons, Milton and Monty; and her daughters, Margot, Maude and Maggie. When traveling on his 14-seat Challenger jet, three cars are needed to move Valentino and his entourage to the airport: one to move Valentino and Giammetti, another for the luggage and the staff and a third to transport five of six Valentino's pugs as one of them, Maude, always travels with Valentino.
, Balthus
, Damien Hirst
. In the 1980s they became close friends (and clients) of Thomas Ammann
with whom they shared their passion for Warhol and Twombly especially, "...it was Thomas Ammann who taught us to love art...".
Valentino and Giammetti's lifestyle has been considered flamboyant. John Fairchild
, editor-at-large at Women's Wear Daily
and W
, told Vanity
yair
,
Valentino owns multiple villas and apartments around the world, all filled with art: Palazzo Mignanelli near the Spanish steps
in Rome and a villa on the Via Appia Antica, a major historical landmark of Rome, Chalet Gifferhorn in Gstaad, Switzerland. In France, the Chateau de Wideville, a castle on 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Davron, about 30 minutes outside Paris which he bought in 1998 and had meticulously restored by the late Henri Samuel, the dean of French interior design. The castle had been previously decorated by the late Renzo Mongiardino, the greatest of the Italian decorators, who also worked on Valentino's Roman villa and Giammetti's Tuscan house. Built circa 1600, the castle was once the home of Claude de Bullion
, the finance minister for Louis XIII, who slept at Wideville, according to a plaque in the castle, on 22 January 1634. During the reign of Louis XIV, Madame de la Valliere, one of his mistresses, lived at Wideville. Her bedroom, a mirrored-walled chapel with a 30 feet (9.1 m)-high ceiling, was converted into a bathroom. Valentino also has an apartment near the Frick Museum overlooking Central Park
, New York and one of the largest private houses in London's Holland Park
, a 19th-century mansion whose centerpiece is the grand salon, which features five late Picassos. The breakfast room is lined with 200 Meissen porcelain
plates, and the small salon has two Basquiat paintings and a painting by Damien Hirst
.
His villa on the cliffs of Capri has recently been sold.
Valentino also spends much time on T. M. Blue One, his 152 feet (46.3 m) yacht boasting a full-time staff of eleven, and a selection of art ranging from Picassos to Andy Warhol. He frequently visits Giancarlo Giammetti's residences: the penthouses in Via Condotti in Rome and on the Quai D'Orsay in Paris, or the country estate in Cetona, Tuscany.
Valentino SpA
Valentino SpA is a clothing company founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani. Nowadays it is a part of Valentino Fashion Group. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti's seat as creative designer...
brand and company. His main lines were Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma, and R.E.D. Valentino.
The Paris years (1949–1959)
Valentino became interested in fashion while in primary school in his native VogheraVoghera
thumb|250px|The Castle of Voghera in a 19th century etching.Voghera is a town and comune of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Pavia...
, Lombardy, northern Italy, when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini
Aldo Giorgini
Aldo Giorgini was an Italian artist and a pioneer in computer graphics. He is the father of music producer Mass Giorgini.-Biography:Giorgini was born in Voghera, in the province of Pavia...
. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
His first choice for an apprenticeship, in Paris, was Jacques Fath
Jacques Fath
Jacques Fath was a French fashion designer who was considered one of the three dominant influences on postwar haute couture, the others being Christian Dior and Pierre Balmain.-Career:The son of André Fath, an Alsatian-Flemish insurance agent, Fath came from a creative family...
, then Balenciaga
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is a fashion house founded by Cristóbal Balenciaga, a Basque designer, born in the Basque Country, Spain. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior. His bubble skirts and odd, feminine, yet ultra-modern...
. He found an apprenticeship with Jean Desses
Jean Desses
Jean Dessès , was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His designs reflected the influences of his travels, specializing in creating draped evening gowns in chiffon and mousseline, based on early Greek and Egyptian robes.-Biography:Born Jean Dimitre Verginie in...
where he used to help style icon countess Jacqueline de Ribes
Jacqueline de Ribes
Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes is a French socialite and fashion designer. She is also a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1962.-Early life:...
sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant. In 1955, he visited the US to investigate new ready-to-wear manufacturing methods...
for 2 years. At Jean Desses
Jean Desses
Jean Dessès , was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His designs reflected the influences of his travels, specializing in creating draped evening gowns in chiffon and mousseline, based on early Greek and Egyptian robes.-Biography:Born Jean Dimitre Verginie in...
, Valentino sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for the daily 2:30 pm private showings. Most of his early sketches were lost. At a Rome exhibition in 1991 a smattering went on display and current clients at that time such as Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
Marie-Hélène de Rothschild
Marie-Hélène de Rothschild was a French socialite who became a doyenne of Parisian high-society and was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of France....
and Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
marveled that the DNA of Valentino's style was already apparent in the layers of white pleats and animal prints.
Jean Desses
Jean Dessès , was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His designs reflected the influences of his travels, specializing in creating draped evening gowns in chiffon and mousseline, based on early Greek and Egyptian robes.-Biography:Born Jean Dimitre Verginie in...
under a cloud over an incident about prolonging a vacation in Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez....
that still makes him wriggle uncomfortably today. Rescued by his friend Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche
Guy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant. In 1955, he visited the US to investigate new ready-to-wear manufacturing methods...
, he joined his "tiny, tiny" fashion house. After discussions with his parents, he decided to return to Italy and set up in Rome in 1959.
Rome
In 1959 Valentino left Paris and moved back to Italy and opened a fashion house in Rome on the posh Via CondottiVia Condotti
Via Condotti is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels...
with the backing of his father and an associate of his. More than an atelier, the premises resembled a real "maison de couture", being it very much on the line of what Valentino had seen in Paris: everything was very grand and models flew in from Paris for his first show. Valentino became known for his red dresses, in the bright shade that became known in the fashion industry as "Valentino red".
On 31 July 1960 Valentino met Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
at the Café de Paris on the Via Veneto
Via Veneto
Via Veneto is one of the most famous streets in Rome, Italy.The official name is via Vittorio Veneto, after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto....
in Rome. One of three children, Giammetti was in his second year of architecture school, living at home with his parents in the haut bourgeois Parioli
Parioli
Parioli is a neighbourhood in the north of Rome, Italy. The name comes from Monti Parioli, a series of tufa hills, and was given to the area before its incorporation into the city proper at the beginning of the 20th century...
section of Northern Rome. That day Giammetti gave Valentino a lift home in his little Fiat and a friendship as well as a long-lasting partnership started. The day after, Giammetti was to leave for Capri for vacation and by coincidence Valentino was also going there so they met again in the island 10 days later. Giammetti would shortly after abandon the University to become Valentino's business partner. When Giammetti arrived, the business situation of Valentino's atelier was in fact not brilliant: in one year he had spent so much money that his father's associate pulled out of the business, and had to fight against bankruptcy.
Breakthrough in Florence (1962–1967)
Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. His first show at the Pitti Palace was welcomed as a true revelation and the young couturier was deluged by orders from foreign buyers and enthusiastic comments on the press.After the breakthrough show in Florence, Valentino started to dress the ladies of the international best-dressed crowd such as his acquaintance from the Paris years Countess Jacqueline de Ribes
Jacqueline de Ribes
Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes is a French socialite and fashion designer. She is also a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1962.-Early life:...
and New York socialites Babe Paley
Babe Paley
Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley was an American socialite and style icon. She was known by the popular nickname "Babe" for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958....
and Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman is an American philanthropist, fine arts collector and widow of philanthropist and art collector, Charles B. Wrightsman . She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965.-References:...
.
By the mid-1960s he was already considered the undisputed maestro of Italian Couture, receiving in 1967 the Neiman Marcus Fashion Award
Neiman Marcus Fashion Award
The Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion was a yearly award created in 1938 by Stanley Marcus. Unlike the Coty Award, it was not limited to American-based fashion designers...
, the equivalent of an Oscar in the field of fashion. The Begum Aga Khan, Farah Diba, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
, Lee Radziwill
Lee Radziwill
Caroline Lee Bouvier Canfield Radziwill Ross best known as Lee Radziwill, is an American socialite, public relations executive, and former actress and interior decorator. She is the younger sister of the late First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis...
, Queen Paola of Belgium
Queen Paola of Belgium
Paola, Queen of the Belgians , is the queen consort of Albert II of Belgium....
, Babe Paley
Babe Paley
Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley was an American socialite and style icon. She was known by the popular nickname "Babe" for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958....
, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, Gloria Guinness
Gloria Guinness
Gloria Guinness , born Gloria Rubio y Alatorre, was a Mexican-born socialite and fashion icon of the 20th century, and a contributing editor to Harper's Bazaar from 1963 until 1971...
, Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli, born Princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto is an Italian socialite, style icon and wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli...
, Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman is an American philanthropist, fine arts collector and widow of philanthropist and art collector, Charles B. Wrightsman . She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965.-References:...
, Marisa Berenson
Marisa Berenson
Vittoria Marisa Schiaparelli Berenson is an American actress and model.-Early life:She is the elder daughter of Robert L. Berenson, an American diplomat turned shipping executive, who was of Lithuanian Jewish descent; his family's original surname was Valvrojenski...
, Veruschka
Veruschka
Vera Gräfin von Lehndorff-Steinort is a German model, actress, and artist who was popular during the 1960s...
and Princess Margaret were already customers as well as personal friends.
At some point in 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy had seen Gloria Schiff, the twin sister of the Rome-based fashion editor of American Vogue
Vogue (magazine)
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
and Valentino's friend Consuelo Crespi
Consuelo Crespi
Consuelo Pauline O'Brien O'Connor Crespi was an American-born Italian countess who served the world of high fashion as a style-setting model and editor of Vogue Italia. During the same period, her twin sister Gloria Schiff was a major influence on fashion as editor for the American edition of...
, wearing a two-piece ensemble in black organza at a gathering. It made such an impression that Kennedy contacted Ms. Schiff to learn the name of the ensemble's designer, which was Valentino. In September 1964, Valentino was to be in the US to present a collection of his work at a charity ball at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Mrs. Kennedy wanted to see the collection but could not attend the event, so Valentino decided to send a model, sales representative and a selection of key pieces from his collection to Mrs. Kennedy's apartment on Fifth Avenue. Mrs. Kennedy ordered six of his haute couture
Haute couture
Haute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
dresses, all in black and white, and wore them during her year of mourning following President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
's assassination. From then on, she was a devoted client and would become a friend. Valentino would later design the white dress worn by Kennedy at her wedding to Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
.
In 1966, confident of his client base, he moved his shows from Florence to Rome and there, two years later, he had one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection, which became famous for the "V" logo he designed.
1970s
Throughout the 1970s Valentino spent considerable time in New York City where his presence was embraced by society personalities such as Vogue's editor-in-chief Diana VreelandDiana Vreeland
Diana Vreeland was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Born as Diana Dalziel, Vreeland was the eldest daughter of American socialite mother Emily Key Hoffman...
and the art icon Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
.
The Accademia Valentino
1989 marked the opening of the Accademia Valentino, designed by architect Tommaso ZifferTommaso Ziffer
Tommaso Ziffer is an Italian architect and interior designer. Ziffer designed The Accademia Valentino and in 2000 as well as Rome's most successful hotel, Rocco Forte's Hotel de Russie...
, a cultural space located near his atelier in Rome, for the presentation of art exhibitions. The next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
created L.I.F.E., an association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino.
From HdP group to Marzotto group
In 1998 Valentino and his partner Giancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
sold the company for approximately 800 million Euros (US$1.1 billion) to HdP
RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...
, an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agnelli
Gianni Agnelli
Giovanni Agnelli , better known as Gianni Agnelli , was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce, and 16.5% of its industrial investment in research...
, the head of Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
. In 2002, Valentino S.p.A., with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto
Marzotto
The Marzotto Group is an Italian textile manufacturer, based in Valdagno.Created in 1836 as the Lanificio Luigi Marzotto & Figli. In 2005 Marzotto Group's textile business separated from Valentino Fashion Group....
Apparel, a Milan-based textile giant, for $210 million.
Retirement
On 4 September 2007 Valentino announced that he would retire fully in January 2008. from the world stage after his last Haute-Couture show in Paris. He delivered his last women's ready-to-wear show in Paris on 4 October.His last haute couture show was presented in Paris at the Musée Rodin
Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
on 23 January 2008. It was, however, somewhat marred by his criticism of fellow Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by the Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan, Italy. By 2005 their turnover was €597 million....
, and the death of Australian actor Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
although few allowed these things to detract from his final show receiving a standing ovation from the entire audience, which included hundreds of notable names from all areas of show business. Many models returned to show for Valentino's last haute couture show, including Eva Herzigova
Eva Herzigová
Eva Herzigová is a Czech model and actress.-Early life and career:Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia . She began her modeling career after winning a modeling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased...
, Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
, Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer is a German model and occasional actress, who reached the peak of her popularity during the 1990s, initially due to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. Schiffer is one of the world's most successful models, having appeared on over 500 magazine covers...
, Nadja Auermann
Nadja Auermann
Nadja Auermann is a German model and actress. Fashion designer Valentino once commented on her physical resemblance to Marlene Dietrich. A New York Times fashion columnist, Guy Trebay, wrote of her "ice maiden visage and pole vaulter's legs".-Biography:Auermann arrived in Paris in 1990, signing...
, Karolina Kurkova
Karolína Kurková
Karolína Isela Kurková is a Czech model, best known as a former Victoria's Secret Angel, and an aspiring actress. Mario Testino said of Kurková, "The proportions of her body and her face, as well as her energy level, make her a model who could fit almost into any moment." Vogue editor Anna...
and Karen Mulder
Karen Mulder
Karen Mulder is a Dutch former model and singer. During the 90s, she had a successful modeling career and was recognized as a world-class "supermodel" by various media...
.
Movies
The Devil Wears Prada (film)
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea Sachs, a recent college graduate who goes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine...
. One of the DVD's featurettes is called "Getting Valentino" and shows an interview of the designer and Valentino backstage with the movie's actresses, Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...
and Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
, his partner Giancarlo Giammetti, and his PRs Carlos de Souza and Charlene Shorto de Ganay.
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Valentino: The Last Emperor is a documentary film about the life of Valentino Garavani. It was produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine. The film is an exploration of the singular world of one of Italy's most famous men, Valentino Garavani...
a feature-length documentary film on the designer, premiered at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival. Produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, the film follows Valentino and his inner circle throughout various events, including last year's anniversary show celebrating his 45 years of career. In production from June 2005 to July 2007, the filmmakers shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage. "We were let in to the inner circle, but we had to stick it out for a long time, practically move in, to capture the truly great moments", says Tyrnauer. "Valentino is surrounded by a tight-knit family of friends and employees, but, eventually, their guard came down and they forgot there was a camera crew in the room."
The film had its North American premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
.
It was released theatrically in the US on 18 March in New York City and selected cities. Indiewire called it the highest-grossing documentary debut of 2009.
Honors
On 6 July 2006 France's President ChiracJacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
awarded Valentino the Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
. "I am very honored", said Valentino, who has received awards from many countries including Italy and the US.
During the festivities for the 45th year of Valentino's career, the Mayor of Rome, Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni
Walter Veltroni, Knight Grand Cross, is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He served as Mayor of Rome from 2001 to 2008.-Biography:Walter Veltroni was...
, announced that the site of the Valentino Museum would be a building in via San Teodoro in Rome, between the Palatine hill and the Bocca della Verità (mouth of truth).
The day after he retired, 24 January 2008, Valentino was presented with the Medal of the City of Paris for his services to fashion in the city where he was educated.
On September 7, 2011 Valentino was presented with the sixth annual Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion from the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology
Fashion Institute of Technology
The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...
at a benefit luncheon held at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center in New York City.
Celebration of 45 years of Valentino
The main five exclusive golden invitation cards have been sent from the Valentino headquarters for the main weekend's events:
- 6 July 2007 at 7:30 pm: inauguration of the exhibit "Valentino in Rome, 45 years of style" designed by Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda at the ancient sacrificial altar Ara PacisAra PacisThe Ara Pacis Augustae is an altar to Peace, envisioned as a Roman goddess...
showcasing Valentino's most important creations from the past 45 years. Valentino has gone through his archives and his clients' closets to narrow down his choices to about 300. - 6 July 2007 post-exhibit gala dinner at the Temple of VenusTemple of Venus and RomaThe Temple of Venus and of Rome — in Latin, Templum Veneris et Romae — is thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, it was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix and Roma Aeterna...
in the Imperial ForumRoman ForumThe Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...
. Dating back to 135 A.D. and dedicated to Emperor HadrianHadrianHadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
the forum had never been opened to any event. Oscar-winning designer Dante FerrettiDante FerrettiDante Ferretti is an Italian production designer, art director and costume designer for films.In his career, Ferretti has worked with many great directors, both American and Italian, such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Federico Fellini, Terry Gilliam, Franco Zeffirelli, Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford...
(The Aviator, Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence) re-created the monument's long-lost columns in fibre glass, a special procedure called: Anastilosys. Valerio FestiValerio FestiValerio Festi is an Italian artistic director and producer. He is also the Chief Executive Officer at Studio Festi.-Biography:Valerio obtained his degree in 1978 at the University of Bologna....
designed a spectacular performance by high-wire ballerinas (costumed in exaggerated versions of the designer's ball gowns or signature lipstick-red evening dresses), with the Coliseum bathed in red and mauve light as a breathtaking backdrop. The plexigas structure remained for the summer for tourists to enjoy. Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli also revealed that Valentino contributed to the restoration of the Temple with a donation of 200,000 euros. - 7 July at 5.00 pm: fashion show for 1000 people. For the first time after 16 years Valentino's Haute Couture fashion show will not take place in Paris during the HC fashion week but in Rome. Socialite and long-time Valentino fan Marina Palma took over the fashionable Bolognese restaurant for a tribute lunch before the international guest list set off for the designer's bravura couture runway show.
The fashion setting was two halls called Sala Incisa and Sala Baglivi of the restructured 16th century Santo Spirito in Sassia
Santo Spirito in Sassia
Santo Spirito in Sassia is a 12th century basilica church in Rome.It has been erected in Borgo Santo Spirito, a street which got its name from the church, placed in the southern part of Rione Borgo....
complex, next to Castel Sant'Angelo
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as the Castel Sant'Angelo, is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family...
and the Vatican. Valentino showed about 61 couture dresses, a record number considering an HC show never shows more than 40 gowns. The collection referenced many of the leitmotifs revealed in the retrospective at Ara Pacis and was a tour de force of the flawless and unmatchable techniques that Valentino's brilliant workrooms. The music segued from Mahler's Fifth
Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor by Gustav Mahler was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. Among its most distinctive features are the funereal trumpet solo that opens the work and the frequently performed Adagietto.The musical canvas and...
to a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Puccini's "O mio babbino caro
O mio babbino caro
"O mio babbino caro" is a soprano aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi , by Giacomo Puccini, to a libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to...
" as Valentino took his bow.
Fellow designers who attended—including Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
, Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
, Donatella Versace
Donatella Versace
Donatella Versace is an Italian fashion designer and current Vice-President of the Versace Group, as well as chief designer. She owns 20 percent of the entire stock market assets of Versace. Her brother, Santo Versace, owns 30 percent...
, Tom Ford
Tom Ford
Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man.-Early life :Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in...
, Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg, formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg , is a Belgian-American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg...
, Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera (fashion designer)
Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera Carolina Herrera (born María Carolina Josefina Pacanins y Niño (born January 8, 1939) is a Venezuelan and naturalized American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her eponymous company in 1980.-Early life:...
, Zac Posen
Zac Posen
- Early life :Posen was raised in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan, the son of artist Stephen Posen and corporate lawyer Susan Posen. His interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls...
, Manolo Blahnik
Manolo Blahnik
Manuel "Manolo" Blahnik Rodríguez CBE, , is a Spanish fashion designer and founder of the self-named, high-end shoe brand.-Biography:Born to a Czech father and a Spanish mother and born and raised in the Canary Islands , Blahnik graduated from the University of Geneva in 1965 and studied art in Paris...
, and Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy
Philip Treacy OBE is an Irish milliner.Born in Ahascragh,in the West of Ireland, he lived with his parents, seven brothers and sister across the road from the village church...
among them—led the standing ovation, which drew tears from the habitually unflappable designer, who embraced Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
on the runway.
- The post-show gala dinner and ball took place in the Parco dei Daini at the Villa BorgheseVilla BorgheseVilla Borghese may refer to:*The Villa Borghese Pinciana , the villa built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio , developing sketches by Scipione Borghese, who used it as a villa suburbana, a party villa, at the edge of Rome, and to house his art collection.**The Galleria...
. There Dante Ferretti had created a Brighton Pavilion-inspired tent, with palm-tree columns and red, black, and mirrored walls, in the gardens. Guests included Princess Caroline of Monaco, Anna WintourAnna WintourAnna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...
, former Persian Empress Farah Diba, Jacqueline de RibesJacqueline de RibesComtesse Jacqueline de Ribes is a French socialite and fashion designer. She is also a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1962.-Early life:...
, Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Karl LagerfeldKarl LagerfeldKarl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...
, Marie-Chantal, Crown Princess of GreeceMarie-Chantal, Crown Princess of GreeceMarie-Chantal Claire, Crown Princess of Greece, Princess of Denmark , is a member of the Greek Royal Family through her marriage to Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece...
, princess Rosario of Bulgaria, princess Firyal of Jordan as well as Mayor Walter VeltroniWalter VeltroniWalter Veltroni, Knight Grand Cross, is an Italian writer, journalist and politician, who served as the first leader of the Democratic Party within the centre-left opposition, until his resignation on 17 February 2009. He served as Mayor of Rome from 2001 to 2008.-Biography:Walter Veltroni was...
. Other movie stars in attendance included Uma ThurmanUma ThurmanUma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
, Anne HathawayAnne Hathaway (actress)Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
, Elizabeth HurleyElizabeth HurleyElizabeth Jane Hurley is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los...
, Sarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
, Joan CollinsJoan CollinsJoan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, Sienna MillerSienna MillerSienna Rose Diana Miller is a British-American actress, model, and fashion designer, best known for her roles in Layer Cake, Alfie, Factory Girl, The Edge of Love and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. In 2007, the London Film Criticsnamed her British Actress of the Year for Interview...
, Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
, Jennifer HudsonJennifer HudsonJennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...
, and Eva MendesEva MendesEva Mendes is an American actress.She began acting in the late 1990s, and after a series of minor roles and performances in several smaller films such as Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror and Urban Legends: Final Cut , she broke into the mainstream, appearing in leading roles in Hollywood...
. Singer Annie LennoxAnnie LennoxAnnie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
held a surprise concert.
Timeline
- 1959 – Having completed his fashion studies and an apprenticeship with Jean DessesJean DessesJean Dessès , was a world leading fashion designer in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. His designs reflected the influences of his travels, specializing in creating draped evening gowns in chiffon and mousseline, based on early Greek and Egyptian robes.-Biography:Born Jean Dimitre Verginie in...
and Guy LarocheGuy LarocheGuy Laroche was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company.Laroche began his career in millinery and, from 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Desses and eventually became his assistant. In 1955, he visited the US to investigate new ready-to-wear manufacturing methods...
, Valentino starts up his first studio in Rome - 1960 – Begins his collaboration with Giancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
, who manages the commercial development of the House of Valentino - 1962 – His first collection at the international fashion GothaGotha (town)Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
in the Palazzo PittiPalazzo PittiThe Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, is a triumphant success - 1964 – Jacqueline Kennedy becomes a client.
- 1965 – Valentino is recognised as the top name in Italian Haute Couture
- 1967 – He is awarded the Neiman MarcusNeiman MarcusNeiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
Prize in Dallas - 1968 – Valentino's reputation is secured with the enormous success of his "Collezione Bianca", the first clothes and accessories to have the magic "V" label. Designs the wedding dress worn by Jacqueline Kennedy for her marriage to Aristotle OnassisAristotle OnassisAristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
. - 1969 – Begins his Boutique line of clothes and opens the first Valentino shop in Milan
- 1970 – Launch of his first ready-to-wearReady-to-wearReady-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...
collections Opening of Valentino boutiques in Rome and New York - 1971 – Opening of the first menswear shop in Via CondottiVia CondottiVia Condotti is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels...
- 1971 – Valentino creates a new uniform collection for Trans World Airlines (TWA)stewardesses.
- 1975 – First fashion show of his Ready-to-Wear collection in Paris
- 1976 – Opens a boutique in Tokyo
- 1978 – Launch of the Valentino perfume at a gala evening in Paris, at the Theater des Champs Elysees
- 1982 – Publication of the book Valentino, edited by Franco Maria RicciFranco Maria RicciFranco Maria Ricci is an Italian publisher. Among his publications is FMR, an art magazine published six times yearly in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish, based in Milan, Italy...
20 September, Valentino presents his Autumn/Winter collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York - 1983 – Valentino lends his talents to the Lincoln ContinentalLincoln ContinentalThe Lincoln Continental is an automobile which was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company from 1939 to 1948 and again from 1956 to 2002...
, an automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
. His contribution includes unique color combinations for the 1983, 1984, and 1985 model years of the car. - 1984 – Valentino celebrates his twenty-fifth year in the business and receives an official award from the Minister for Industry
- 1985 – He is awarded the Grand'Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito by the President of Italy
- 1986 – Receives the highest decoration possible in Italy, the Cavaliere di Gran Croce, from the President
- 1989 – First show of the haute coutureHaute coutureHaute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
collection in Paris - 1990 – In February, Valentino and Giancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
found L.I.F.E. (acronym in Italian for "Fighting, Informing, Building, Teaching"), an association working for the fight against Aids. The Accademia Valentino is also officially opened to the public with an exhibition of painters of the Roman School Exhibition of "The Art of Cartier" at the Accademia Valentino Publication of the book "Valentino: Trent'Anni de Magia", by Leonardo arte. - 1991 – To celebrate his 30th year in the fashion business, an exhibition entitled "Valentino: Thirty Years of Magic" is organized in Valentino's honour by the Mayor of Rome at the Capitole Museum, while the Accademia Valentino presents a retrospective of his designs. Creation of the perfume Vendetta for men and women.
- 1992 – Exhibition at the Accademia Valentino entitled: "La seduzione da Boucher a Warhol" The "Valentino: Thirty Years of Magic"' exhibition is invited to go to New York to coincide with the fifth centenary celebrations of the discovery of America. Valentino is invited by the Chinese government to stage a show in Beijing* 1994 – In January, Valentino presents his first ever costume designs at the Eisenhower Theatre in the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., for an opera entitled The Dream of Valentino, based on the life of the movie star Rudolf Valentino
- 1995 – Valentino's return to Italy is celebrated on 14 January in FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
with a fashion show at the Stazione Leopolda, over thirty years his first show at the Palazzo PittiPalazzo PittiThe Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
. The Mayor of Florence awards him the "Premio speciale dell'arte nella moda" - 1996 – Valentino is named Cavaliere del Lavoro
- 2004 – launch of V perfume which will be followed by V for men
- 2006 – Opens a boutique on Newbury Street in BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
- 2006 – President ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
awards Valentino of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802... - 2007 – Opens a boutique in BangkokBangkokBangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
- 2007 – Opens a boutique in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- 2007 – 4 September: Valentino announces his retirement
- 2007 – 4 October, Valentino shows his last fashion show.
- 2007 – Opens a boutique in DallasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
at NorthPark CenterNorthPark CenterNorthPark Center is an upscale shopping mall located in Dallas, Texas . The mall is located at the intersection of Loop 12 and US 75 . The center has over 235 stores and restaurants. NorthPark is the first shopping center featured on Vogue Magazine... - 2008 – 23 January, Valentino shows his last Haute-Couture show, and retires fully from the world stage
- 2008 – Opens a boutique in AtlantaAtlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
at Phipps PlazaPhipps PlazaPhipps Plaza, owned by Simon Property Group, is an upscale regional mall in Atlanta, Georgia anchored by Belk, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue. Located adjacent to its sister-mall Lenox Square, in the Buckhead district, Phipps has more than 100 specialty shops, five full-service restaurants, a food... - 2010 – 1 January, Dancers of the Vienna State Opera Ballet wear his special designed costumes for the world wide broadcoasted New Years Concert played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
- 2010 – 15 December, Valentino's early works will be exhibited at Valentino, Retrospective: Past, Present and Future
Personal life
Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti met in 1960 and have been together, both romantically and in business, for over 50 years. They discussed how they met and returned to the spot in the film Valentino: The Last EmperorValentino: The Last Emperor
Valentino: The Last Emperor is a documentary film about the life of Valentino Garavani. It was produced and directed by Matt Tyrnauer, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine. The film is an exploration of the singular world of one of Italy's most famous men, Valentino Garavani...
.
Valentino's mother, Teresa, moved from Voghera to Rome to help with the business. Eventually he told both his parents that he was engaged to Italian actress Marilù Tolo
Marilù Tolo
Marilù Tolo is an Italian film actress. She appeared in 64 films between 1960 and 1985. She was also a fashion model and a close friend of Italian stylist Valentino...
, the only woman he had ever truly loved and with whom he had wished to have children.
Friends and entourage
Friends have become family for Valentino; his business associate life partner, Giancarlo GiammettiGiancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
, Brazilian brothers Sean and Anthony Souza, as well as their parents, Carlos Souza and socialite Charlene Shorto
Charlene Shorto
Charlene Shorto de Ganay a.k.a. Chachá is a Brazilian socialite and the Paris-based PR and muse of Italian designer Valentino Garavani. She was married to another Valentino PR, Brazilian Carlos Cacà de Souza with whom she has had two sons Sean and Anthony...
de Ganay, Souza's ex-wife, who are both Valentino's public relations representatives. Carlos Souza met Valentino and Giammetti in 1973 in Rio de Janeiro when he was 18 years old. Valentino and Giammetti are also the godfathers of Anthony and Sean. Giammetti confided to Vanity Fair that "this family has stayed together because of me, because when Valentino gets mad he cuts – that is that. I remember when Carlos left and moved to Brazil and married Charlene
Charlene Shorto
Charlene Shorto de Ganay a.k.a. Chachá is a Brazilian socialite and the Paris-based PR and muse of Italian designer Valentino Garavani. She was married to another Valentino PR, Brazilian Carlos Cacà de Souza with whom she has had two sons Sean and Anthony...
. Valentino refused to speak to him, but I always talked to Carlos. Then one day Carlos called and said he had a baby boy, Sean. I handed the phone to Valentino, and he started to cry and cry".
Throughout his career, Valentino has been deeply inspired by many glamorous women. Some of them have become very close friends, making up what is referred to as the Valentino's "family". This includes Spanish socialites Nati Abascal
Nati Abascal
Natividad Abascal y Romero-Toro , more commonly known as Nati Abascal , is a Spanish socialite and a former fashion model...
, a former model who was married to the Duke of Feria
Duke of Feria
The Duke of Feria is a Spanish title.It has been held by:*Don Gomez Suarez de Figueroa of Cordova, Duke of Feria*Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, Duke of Feria*Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, 3rd Duke of Feria...
, and Rosario Nadal, the ex-wife of Kyrill, Prince of Preslav
Kyrill, Prince of Preslav
|align=right Semana covered the event and reported that there were 400 guests, though only 125 could be accommodated in the chapel for the religious ceremony...
. Valentino met Nati Abascal in 1968 at a party when she was a 19 year old model and brought her to Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
. Rosario of Bulgaria met Valentino in her native Majorca in the 90s via Carlos Souza at a club. Another close friend of Valentino is his former PR French-Brazilian Georgina Brandolini, who worked for Valentino for 18 years before leaving for Balmain
Balmain (fashion house)
Balmain is a fashion house that was founded by Pierre Balmain.In the period following World War II, Pierre Balmain was "a king of French fashion" and outfitted stars including Ava Gardner and Brigitte Bardot. His most famous client were Queen Sirikit of Thailand...
and ultimately starting her own fashion career.
The Valentino entourage often travels together everywhere around the world for vacation, moving between Valentino's and Giammetti's various homes around the world and in summertime to the yacht, where for a period in the 90s, Giammetti made everyone except Valentino do needlepoint.
Valentino's PR Daniela Giardina, architect Tommaso Ziffer
Tommaso Ziffer
Tommaso Ziffer is an Italian architect and interior designer. Ziffer designed The Accademia Valentino and in 2000 as well as Rome's most successful hotel, Rocco Forte's Hotel de Russie...
, a close friend of Giancarlo Giammetti, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
are also part of the group. Since Marzotto group's acquisition of Valentino from HdP
RCS MediaGroup
RCS MediaGroup S.p.A. , based in Milan and listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, is an international multimedia publishing group that operates in daily newspapers, magazines and books, radio broadcasting, new media and digital and satellite TV...
group, Matteo Marzotto and his socialite mother Marta Marzotto often join the party.
Pets
Valentino adores dogs to the point that he once named a second line of clothing after his late pugPug
The pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...
Oliver. Today Valentino owns six pug
Pug
The pug is a "toy" breed of dog with a wrinkly, short-muzzled face, and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, and a compact square body with well-developed muscle. They have been described as multum in parvo , referring to the pug's personality and...
s: the mother, Molly; her sons, Milton and Monty; and her daughters, Margot, Maude and Maggie. When traveling on his 14-seat Challenger jet, three cars are needed to move Valentino and his entourage to the airport: one to move Valentino and Giammetti, another for the luggage and the staff and a third to transport five of six Valentino's pugs as one of them, Maude, always travels with Valentino.
Interests
Both Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti are renowned for their extensive collection of art spread among their homes around the world including Picasso, Cy TwomblyCy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors...
, Balthus
Balthus
Balthasar Klossowski de Rola , best known as Balthus, was an esteemed but controversial Polish-French modern artist....
, Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
. In the 1980s they became close friends (and clients) of Thomas Ammann
Thomas Ammann
Thomas E. Ammann was a leading Swiss art dealer in Impressionist and Twentieth Century Art and major collector of Post-war and Contemporary Art.-Life:...
with whom they shared their passion for Warhol and Twombly especially, "...it was Thomas Ammann who taught us to love art...".
Valentino and Giammetti's lifestyle has been considered flamboyant. John Fairchild
John Fairchild
John Fairchild is a retired American basketball player.Fairchild played high school basketball at San Dieguito High School in Encinitas, CA and college basketball at Brigham Young University....
, editor-at-large at Women's Wear Daily
Women's Wear Daily
Women's Wear Daily is a fashion-industry trade journal sometimes called "the bible of fashion." WWD delivers information and intelligence on changing trends and breaking news in the fashion, beauty and retail industries with a readership composed largely of retailers, designers, manufacturers,...
and W
W (magazine)
W is a monthly American fashion magazine published by Condé Nast Publications, who purchased original owner Fairchild Publications in 1999. It was created in 1971 by the publisher of sister magazine Woman's Wear Daily, James Brady. The magazine is an oversize format – ten inches wide and...
, told Vanity
yair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
,
- Valentino and Giancarlo are the kings of high living. Every other designer looks and says, ‘How do they live the way they do?’ I don’t think they made the money that Valentino and Giancarlo did, because Giancarlo knows how to make money. If they did, they didn’t spend the money like Valentino. No other designer ever did. When the terrorism first started in Rome – the period when the Red BrigadesRed BrigadesThe Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
were kidnapping people – Valentino was riding around in a bulletproof Mercedes. And do you know what color the Mercedes was? Red. My God, I thought, you must want to get blown up.
Valentino owns multiple villas and apartments around the world, all filled with art: Palazzo Mignanelli near the Spanish steps
Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps are a set of steps in Rome, Italy, climbing a steep slope between the Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church at the top. The Scalinata is the widest staircase in Europe...
in Rome and a villa on the Via Appia Antica, a major historical landmark of Rome, Chalet Gifferhorn in Gstaad, Switzerland. In France, the Chateau de Wideville, a castle on 120 acre (0.4856232 km²) in Davron, about 30 minutes outside Paris which he bought in 1998 and had meticulously restored by the late Henri Samuel, the dean of French interior design. The castle had been previously decorated by the late Renzo Mongiardino, the greatest of the Italian decorators, who also worked on Valentino's Roman villa and Giammetti's Tuscan house. Built circa 1600, the castle was once the home of Claude de Bullion
Claude de Bullion
Claude de Bullion was a French aristocrat and politician who served as a Minister of Finance under Louis XIII from 1632 to 1640. He was a close ally of Cardinal Richelieu.-Life and career:...
, the finance minister for Louis XIII, who slept at Wideville, according to a plaque in the castle, on 22 January 1634. During the reign of Louis XIV, Madame de la Valliere, one of his mistresses, lived at Wideville. Her bedroom, a mirrored-walled chapel with a 30 feet (9.1 m)-high ceiling, was converted into a bathroom. Valentino also has an apartment near the Frick Museum overlooking Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, New York and one of the largest private houses in London's Holland Park
Holland Park
Holland Park is a district and a public park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in west central London, England.Holland Park has a reputation as an affluent and fashionable area, known for attractive large Victorian townhouses, and high-class shopping and restaurants...
, a 19th-century mansion whose centerpiece is the grand salon, which features five late Picassos. The breakfast room is lined with 200 Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market...
plates, and the small salon has two Basquiat paintings and a painting by Damien Hirst
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst is an English artist, entrepreneur and art collector. He is the most prominent member of the group known as the Young British Artists , who dominated the art scene in Britain during the 1990s. He is internationally renowned, and is reportedly Britain's richest living artist,...
.
His villa on the cliffs of Capri has recently been sold.
Valentino also spends much time on T. M. Blue One, his 152 feet (46.3 m) yacht boasting a full-time staff of eleven, and a selection of art ranging from Picassos to Andy Warhol. He frequently visits Giancarlo Giammetti's residences: the penthouses in Via Condotti in Rome and on the Quai D'Orsay in Paris, or the country estate in Cetona, Tuscany.
External links
- Official website
- Official website for Valentino: The Last Emperor documentary film
- Paris Fashion Show 2007 – Valentino spring and summer collection gellery
- Valentino feature in Harper's BAZAAR
- "Getting Valentino" featurette for The Devil Wears Prada film
- a long and detailed article on Valentino by Michael Specter
- Oprah's Valentino special
- Martha Stewart's Valentino special
- "Valentino-Fashion Press"
- Valentino's profile in the FMD-database
- Sewing patterns by Valentino
- Theodora & Callum Interview with Valentino's Director of Public Relations, Carlos Souza