Valentino Garavani, the famous fashion designer, dies at the age of 93

Valentino Garavani, the jet-setting Italian designer whose extravagant clothes – often in his “Valentino red” shade – have been staples of fashion shows for nearly a century, has died at home in Rome, his foundation announced Monday on social media. He was 93 years old.

“Valentino Garavani was not only a constant guide and inspiration to all of us, but a true source of light, creativity and vision,” the foundation said in a statement.

His body will lie in state at the foundation’s headquarters in Rome on Wednesday and Thursday. The funeral will be held on Friday at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome’s Piazza della Repubblica.

Known around the world by his first name, Valentino was loved by generations of royalty, first ladies and movie stars, from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Julia Roberts and Queen Rania of Jordan, who swore the designer always made them look and feel their best.

When the ruler of IranFarah Pahlavi, who fled the country during the revolution of 1979, wore a coat made by Valentino.

“I know what women want,” he once remarked. “They want to be beautiful.”

Never impatient or wearing a statement, Valentino made precious few faux-pas throughout his career that spanned nearly a century, from his early days in Rome in the 1960s until his retirement in 2008.

His timeless designs made Valentino the king of the red carpet, the go-to man for A-listers’ awards ceremony needs. Her stylish outfits have won her a number of Academy Awards, most notably in 2001, when Roberts wore a classic black and white collar to accept. her statue of a leading actress.

Cate Blanchett also wore Valentino – a one-shoulder number in butter-yellow silk – when she won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 2005.

Valentino was also behind the long-sleeved lace dress that Jacqueline Kennedy wore to her wedding to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968. It caused a stir in the United States, and in 1970, Valentino was the first Italian designer to open a store in New York.

Kennedy and Valentino were best friends for decades, and for a long time the US first lady wore almost exclusively Valentino. He was also close to Diana, Princess of Wales, who often wore her luxurious clothes.

Over the years Valentino would elevate the “Made in Italy” label to global prominence.

Besides his signature orange-red shade, other Valentino trademarks included bows, ruffles, lace and embroidery; in short, feminine decorations, which show love and add to the beauty of the clothes and therefore to the wearers.

Eternally clean-shaven and well-dressed — “I only like beautiful things,” he told the Italian edition of Elle magazine in 2007 — Valentino shares the lifestyle of his jet-setting patrons. In addition to his 152-foot yacht and an art collection that included works by Picasso and Miro, the couturier owned a 17th-century chateau near Paris with a garden said to boast more than a million roses.

Valentino and longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti flew between their homes – which included New York, London, Rome, Capri and Gstaad, Switzerland – with their pack of pugs. The pair regularly found A-list friends and sponsors, including Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow.

“If I see a person and unfortunately he is relaxed and running in jogging pants and without makeup … I am very sorry,” the designer told RTL television in a 2007 interview. “To me, a woman is like a beautiful, beautiful flower. She should always be exciting, always exciting, always good, always pleasing her husband, her lover, everyone. Because we are born to always show our best.”

Valentino was born into a well-to-do family in the town of Voghera in northern Italy on May 11, 1932. He said his childhood love for cinema led him to the path of fashion.

“I was obsessed with the silver screen, I was obsessed with beauty, seeing all these movie stars hot, well dressed, always perfect,” he explained in a 2007 television interview.

After studying fashion in Milan and Paris, he spent much of the 1950s working for Paris-based designer Jean Desses and later Guy Laroche before striking out on his own. He founded the house of Valentino in Rome’s Via Condotti in 1959.

From the beginning, Giammetti was at his side, managing the business side while Valentino used his natural beauty to build a client base among the world’s richest and most beautiful people.

After some initial financial difficulties – Valentino’s passion was always sweet, and the company spent by abandoning it – the brand took off.

Past fans include Italian screen stars Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren, as well as Hollywood stars Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. American Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland also took the young designer under her wing.

Over the years, Valentino’s empire grew as the designer added ready-to-wear lines, menswear and accessories to his stable. Valentino and Giammetti sold the label to an Italian holding company for approximately $300 million in 1998. Valentino would remain in the design role for another decade.

In 2007, the couturier celebrated his 45th birthday in fashion with a three-day bombshell in Rome, combined with a grand ball in the Villa Borghese gallery.

Valentino retired in 2008 and was briefly replaced by fellow Italian Alessandra Facchinetti, who had stepped into Tom Ford’s shoes at Gucci before being fired after two seasons.

Facchinetti’s time at Valentino was similarly short. At the start of his first show for the label, rumors spread that he was on his way out, and about a year into his tenure, Facchinetti was replaced by two longtime designers at the brand, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli.

Chiuri left to direct Dior in 2016, and Piccioli continued to lead the house during a golden period that attracted the launch of the Rockstud pump with Chiuri and his signature color, a shade of fuchsia called Pink PP. He left the house in 2024, later joining Balenciaga, and was replaced by Alessandro Michele, who revived the stars of Gucci with romantic and genderless styles.

Valentino is owned by Qatar’s Mayhoola, which controls a 70% stake, and French conglomerate Kering, which owns 30% with an option to take full control in 2028 or 2029. Richard Bellini was named CEO last September.

Valentino has been the subject of several reviews, including one at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, housed in a wing of Paris’ Louvre Museum. He was also the subject of a hit documentary in 2008, “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” which chronicled the end of his career in fashion.

In 2011, Valentino and Giammetti launched what they call a “virtual museum,” a free desktop app that allows viewers to see about 300 of the designer’s pieces.