RIP VALENTINO GARAVANI

Today, the fashion world lost one of its greatest custodians of beauty.

Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani has died at the age of 93.

A man who dedicated his entire life to elegance, craftsmanship, and the pursuit of beauty in its purest form. Or, in his own perfectly unapologetic words: “I love beauty. It’s not my fault.”

Born on May 11, 1932, in Voghera, a small town in northern Italy, Valentino was never destined for anything ordinary. From childhood, beauty obsessed him – cinema, couture, glamorous women, and the romance of Parisian fashion filled his imagination long before he ever sketched a dress. 

He was famously indulgent in his tastes even as a boy, insisting on custom-made shoes and cashmere sweaters, already living the values that would later define his career. ICONIC behaviour from the get-go! Beautiful things, he once said, had followed him since he was ten years old.

At just 17, Valentino left Italy for Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, immersing himself in the discipline and precision of French haute couture. Paris taught him restraint, Rome gave him romance – and the combination is what led to the unmistakably legendary Valentino.

In 1960, he opened his own atelier in Rome. The early years were not easy; success was hard-won and precarious. But fate intervened in the form of Giancarlo Giammetti, whom Valentino met in 1960. Their partnership - professional and personal - lasted a lifetime. 

Giammetti steadied the business; Valentino created the vision. Together, they built one of fashion’s most enduring houses. What a brilliant partnership!

The world truly took notice of his immense talent in 1962, when Valentino showed in Florence to international acclaim. From that moment, his aesthetic crystallised: refined silhouettes, peerless craftsmanship, and a devotion to femininity that never veered into provocation. And, of course, there was red.THE red. Valentino Red, a colour always present in his collections “for good luck.”

Throughout the 1960s and 70s, Valentino dressed women who defined power and elegance: Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Princess Margaret. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis became his most devoted muse, once declaring, “Valentino: Live a hundred years!” Which he almost did.

While others chased shock, Valentino remained loyal to grace. He believed a woman should cause heads to turn when she entered a room - not through spectacle, but through only beauty.

Valentino retired in 2008 after a final couture show in Paris, closing nearly five decades at the helm of his house. He stepped away reluctantly, uneasy with fashion’s increasing corporatisation, but his legacy was already untouchable.

Even in retirement, he continued to sketch, to curate beauty, to live surrounded by it - it wasn’t a job for him, it was his life and his soul. 

Valentino Garavani did not simply design clothes. In an industry obsessed with turnover and speed his work has always stood firm in the fact true luxury is timeless. That elegance does not need reinvention. That beauty, when pursued with conviction, will always endure.

Thank you Valentino for dedicating your life to share the importance of beauty and elegance. You will not be forgotten.

RIP VALENTINO GARAVANI  

With love,

Mimi x