Valentino entered haute couture in 1973. It was uncommon for an Italian designer to pass through the sacrosanct filter of the Paris Chambre Syndicale, which safeguards fashion as part of France’s cultural heritage. For nearly three decades, he presented collections in the French capital on a regular basis. The 1991 show (pictured) was among the most memorable: the supermodels of the era — Naomi, Claudia, Helena, and others — walked the runway in those sculptural yet comfortable gowns that were his hallmark. Valentino Garavani was the last couturier, the last practitioner of a craft — haute couture — that now survives with a different purpose and in other formats.Raphael GAILLARDE (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)They met at a café on Via Veneto. Valentino had just returned from Paris, where he trained under Jean Dessés and Guy Laroche. He frequented the area because the stars of Cinecittà passed through there — women he hoped to dress as part of his brand project. Giancarlo Giammetti felt an instant attraction, a bolt of lightning that would endure long after their romantic relationship ended, much like what happened with Pierre Bergé and Yves Saint Laurent, or with Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole. They became partners in the 1960s, and Giammetti has said on several occasions that his goal was to turn Valentino into a star. He succeeded beyond all expectations. After Valentino’s retirement in 2007, nothing changed between them: Giammetti remained his spokesman and right-hand man until the very end.Bertrand Rindoff Petroff (Getty Images)They met in the 1970s, and for Valentino, Marisa Berenson embodied everything he wanted — and knew how — to convey through his brand: aristocratic roots blended with freshness and rebellion, and in her case, with striking appearances in auteur cinema. She never walked the runway for him, but she was one of those early muses who helped shape the imposing imagery that would come later.Henry Clarke (Conde Nast via Getty Images)When Jackie Kennedy met Valentino, she was no longer first lady. They met in Rome, and their encounter was something of an instant spark. Their relationship was crucial to the construction of the Valentino legend: Jackie found in him a sober, intellectual elegance, free of ostentation, that matched what she was seeking at the time, far removed from the opulence of the French designers of that era. The defining moment in their relationship came in 1968, when she chose Valentino to design her wedding dress for her marriage to Aristotle Onassis — a gesture that projected the designer onto the international stage and consecrated him as the leading couturier of influential women. From then on, Jackie wore Valentino consistently. It was, however, a risky choice: she backed an Italian designer — neither American nor French — for her public appearances, a decision that was widely criticized at the time, though history ultimately proved her right.Ron Galella (Ron Galella Collection via Getty)Some say— Valentino being one of them — that his obsession with red came from the opera 'Carmen' and the first time he saw it performed live. Others argue that his love of Roman culture led him, from a young age, to focus on the sight of cardinals walking through the city in their red vestments. In any case, Valentino turned the most powerful of colors into his signature. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was uncommon for red to take center stage in evening and ceremonial gowns, until he arrived and, in a way, endowed his clients with a new sense of power and grandeur.Pool BASSIGNAC/BENAINOUS (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)After achieving exactly the shade he wanted to define his brand, he turned it into a trademark look.Michel Dufour (WireImage)Penélope Cruz, con uno de sus icónicos vestidos rojos de alta costura para el estreno de la película 'El último samurai' en 2003. Ian West - PA Images (PA Images via Getty Images)Spain's Queen Sofía has long been a great admirer of the Italian designer. At some of the most important moments of her life as queen, she trusted his creations. Among many other occasions, she wore his designs to attend a reception with Queen Elizabeth II, on an official trip to the Congo, and at the wedding of Hussein of Jordan. In the image, she is seen with the designer and Monica Bellucci at the premiere of 'La Traviata' in Valencia in 2017.Manuel Queimadelos Alonso (Getty Images)Valentino and Anne Hathaway built a close friendship. The actress, who became one of his muses, spent time aboard his yacht. Their bond grew more personal when Valentino designed her wedding dress in 2012, a bespoke piece made in Rome. Hathaway has also worn his designs at some of the most important moments of her career, including several Oscar ceremonies.KMazur (WireImage)Anne Hathaway wearing a bow-adorned Valentino dress in 2007.Dan MacMedan (WireImage)In the early 1990s, Valentino rode the wave of supermodels, but unlike most brands at the time, he knew how to strip away the sometimes overbearing sensual aura around them. With him, Linda, Claudia, and Naomi became mature, powerful women, dressed ceremoniously and with solemnity.Daniel SIMON (Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)Before his famous red, Valentino used flowers as a recurring element in his designs. In the 1970s, when floral prints proliferated to express freedom and a connection with nature, he preferred to present them in a more maximalist and architectural style, as if creating a Renaissance garden. Closer to art than to Bohemian whimsy. Moreover, rather than using flowers as a symbol of youth or fragility, the designer preferred to draw or embroider them to dress older women, reinforcing a sense of fullness and completeness.Fairchild Archive (Penske Media via Getty Images)Another of Valentino’s great muses was Rosario Nadal, the former wife of Kyril of Bulgaria. The Spanish model and socialite was also part of his closest circle of friends. They built a very close relationship, sharing everything from vacations together to professional projects. As Princess of Preslav by marriage and a member of the Spanish nobility by birth, she was one of the designer’s most loyal friends.Darren Gerrish (WireImage)In 1999, Pier Paolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri joined Valentino as directors of its accessories line. In an unusual move in fashion, which typically rewards already established stars, Valentino decided to pass the baton to them upon his retirement in 2008 — after all, they knew best what sold and what didn’t at the brand. He wasn’t wrong. Together, they created some of the most acclaimed collections of the past decade, blending Valentino’s legacy with deeply Italian references, from Greco-Roman art to Pasolini’s films. In 2016, Chiuri joined Dior as creative director, a position she left last year. Piccioli stayed with the brand, making it his own while honoring his mentor’s legacy, until 2024, when he became creative director at Balenciaga. His farewell at Valentino was one of the most emotional in memory, with almost his entire team of seamstresses seeing him off in the courtyard of the offices.WWD (Penske Media via Getty Images)El fondo Mayhoola, propiedad de la jequesa de Catar, completó la firma en 2012, poco después de la retirada de Valentino. En 2024, se confirmó que Alessandro Michele, el diseñador que había obrado el milagro en Gucci, sustituiría Pierpaolo Piccioli al frente del diseño. El diseñador, también romano, ha sabido conjugar su peculiar estética con el pasado más desconocido de la casa. En su primera colección de alta costura, el pasado invierno, el escenario proyectaba de qué año eran los vestidos de archivo en los que se había basado. Muchos dirán que Michele y Valentino tienen poco que ver, pero lo cierto es que el maximalismo del segundo dialoga a la perfección con la idea de poder y solemnidad que siempre ha caracterizado al primero.
Darren Gerrish/BFC (Getty Images)PM23, in Piazza Mignanelli in Rome, is the space recently opened by the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation to preserve the legacy of the designer. For the past two years, it has hosted exhibitions featuring archival pieces from Valentino, centered around specific themes and dialogues with his four-decade-long fashion work, alongside the work of contemporary artists. Currently, one of these exhibitions can be visited: Valentino’s designs displayed alongside the work of Joana Vasconcelos.Elisabetta A. Villa (Getty Images)
