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‘A true maestro’: Tributes pour in after Italian designer Valentino dies at 93
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‘A true maestro’: Tributes pour in after Italian designer Valentino dies at 93

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Italian designer Valentino Garavani, whose luxurious dresses adorned some of the world’s most elegant women from Jackie Kennedy to Audrey Hepburn, has died at the age of 93, his foundation said Monday.
Valentino’s death comes just months after the passing of another Italian style legend, Giorgio Armani, and there were tributes from the global fashion world and beyond.
“Valentino Garavani died today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones,” his foundation said in a statement.
A funeral is planned for Friday in the Italian capital and he will lie in state at his company headquarters near the Spanish Steps on Wednesday and Thursday.
Within minutes of the announcement, memories of the elegant and tanned designer began flooding social media.
“Today we lost a true maestro who will forever be remembered for his art,” Donatella Versace wrote on Instagram.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the designer the “undisputed master of style and elegance and the eternal symbol of Italian haute couture”.

“Today Italy loses a legend…,” she wrote.

‘The Last Emperor’

One of the top designers of his time – best known as Valentino – his creations were worn by the who’s who of the international elite, from Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Reagan to Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.
He was best known for his dresses in deep, rich “Valentino red”.
On the catwalk and in his own life, Valentino exuded luxury down to the smallest detail of his immaculate hairstyle and caramel tan, often photographed with several pugs by his side.
The black-and-white dress he designed for Roberts, which she wore when she won an Oscar for her performance in Erin Brockovich in 2001, was critically acclaimed.
He dressed generations of the world’s rich and powerful and was dubbed “The Last Emperor” in a 2008 film about his life and final collection.
Valentino’s creative director Alessandro Michele celebrated him as “a central figure in the history of Italian culture”.

He said Valentino “has pushed the boundaries of what is possible and has crossed the world with a rare sensitivity, a quiet accuracy and a boundless love of beauty”.

Meeting with Jackie Kennedy

Valentino was born on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, a small town south of Milan. His father owned an electrical cable company.
After training and working in Paris, he opened his own fashion house in Rome in 1960.

A meeting with Jackie Kennedy in 1964 would prove decisive.

Valentino transformed Jackie Kennedy’s wardrobe and in 1968 she chose an ivory lace dress from his famous white collection for her second wedding to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Source: Getty / P. L. Gould

It caused a sensation in the United States and in 1970 Valentino was the first Italian designer to open a store in New York. Over the years, he would elevate the “Made in Italy” label to worldwide fame.

He was assisted by his lover Giancarlo Giammetti, who had business knowledge and would help transform the company into a global brand, guiding it through successive buyouts.

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