Italian fashion legend Valentino Garavani, whose elegant evening gowns were favoured for decades by some of the world’s most glamorous women, has died at the age of 93.
According to a statement issued on Monday by his foundation, Garavani died at his residence in Rome, Italy, surrounded by his family members.
The statement read, “Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones.
“The lying-in-state will be held at PM23, Piazza Mignanelli 23, on Wednesday, January 21, and Thursday, January 22, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
“The funeral will take place on Friday, January 23, at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Piazza della Repubblica 8, Rome, at 11:00 a.m.”
Born in the northern Italian town of Voghera in 1932, Valentino, popularly known simply by his first name, learned his craft in the haute couture ateliers of Paris before founding his own fashion house in Rome in 1959.
Early in his career, he became renowned for his red dresses, a rich scarlet shade that became his signature colour and was widely known in the industry as “Valentino red.”
In 1960, he met his long-time business partner—and, for 12 years, romantic partner—Giancarlo Giammetti, then a young architecture student. Together, they transformed Valentino SpA into an internationally recognised luxury brand.
One of Valentino’s first high-profile clients was actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom he met while she was filming Cleopatra in Rome in the early 1960s.
Other early admirers and patrons of his designs included Begum Aga Khan, Queen Paola of Belgium, actresses Audrey Hepburn and Joan Collins, and Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore a Valentino gown when she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
Valentino’s popularity endured across the decades. He spent much of the 1970s in New York, moving within a social circle that included artist Andy Warhol and legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. In the 1990s, he became a favourite of the era’s supermodels, including Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell.
His designs were also mainstays on the red carpet. At the Academy Awards alone, memorable Valentino creations included the heavily beaded gown worn by Jane Fonda in 1981 when she accepted the Best Actor Oscar on behalf of her father, Henry Fonda; the vintage black-and-white gown worn by Julia Roberts in 2001; Jennifer Lopez’s pastel mint caftan-style gown in 2003; and Cate Blanchett’s sunshine-yellow gown in 2005. Roberts and Blanchett both won Oscars in the years they wore Valentino.
At the 2002 Academy Awards, Anne Hathaway appeared on the red carpet in an ornate Valentino gown, accompanied by the designer himself.
In more recent years, stars such as Zendaya, Carey Mulligan and Gemma Chan have continued to wear Valentino to the Oscars, drawing widespread acclaim and reaffirming the brand’s enduring influence on global fashion.
