The world of haute couture fashion has just lost one of its most talented exponents and leaders with the death of VALENTINO GARAVANI aged 93.  He was one of the few men in the world simply by his first name  VALENTINO and this flamboyant designer was noted for his glamorous retro pieces and his celebrity collaborations. 

He started work at the age of 19 and his resume looks like a veritabe whos-who of some of the greatest names in fashion who preceded him: Jean Dessès, Jacques Fath, Balenciaga Christian Dior and Guy Laroche in 1956.

Then in 1960 life changed forever.  He opened his own Atelier in Rome on the fashionable Via Condotti, and that was where Valentino first became known for his red dresses.  It was also the same year that he met Giancarlo Giammetti who very quickly abandoned his university studies to become Valentino’s business partner and life partner. They remained life partners for more than 65 years, although their romantic relationship ended in 1972. 

One year later in 1961,  Elizabeth Taylor, who was in Rome for the filming of Cleopatra, chose Valentino’s white haute couture column for the premiere of Spartacus and from them, there was no looking back for Valentino

Of all the adjectives used to describe him, and the titles heaped upon him, the one that stuck most was the nickname  “Last Emperor of Fashion”, the name of his documentary.  In his obituary, The New York Times described him as “the last of the great 20th-century couturiers and a designer who defined the image of royalty in a republican age for all manner of princesses—crowned, deposed, Hollywood and society”. Vogue described him as “one of the key architects of late 20th century glamour”, adding that “there is a certain polish and formality to Valentino’s work that speaks to an earlier age of glamour and the beginnings of the jet set, which is now a thing of the past.

He was also something of an icon to the LGBTQ community, as at a time when some of his peers still insisted on hiding their sexuality ashamedly in the closet, Valentino always seemed so proud of who he really was.