Valentino

Since his international debut in the early 60s, Valentino Garavani has etched a timeless legacy for himself in the word of Italian haute couture.

By Ellen Stewart on Tuesday 7th February, 2012

Valentino first became interested in fashion at school in his native Voghera, Northern Italy. His passion took flight when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo.

In 1949 he moved to Paris to pursue his interest and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. After his studies he became apprenticed to Jean Desses, where he helped style icon Countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch dress ideas. He sketched frantically, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for private showings.

Unfortunately, most of his early sketches were lost. However, at an exhibition in Rome in 1991 a handful of his drawings went on display; his then-current clients Marie-Hélène de Rothschild and Elizabeth Taylor were awe-struck by the signature Valentino style that was already apparent in his layers of white pleats and animal prints at such an early stage in his career.

In 1959, Valentino returned to Italy and opened a fashion house on the celebrated Via Condotti, Rome. Drawing heavily on his Paris years, the premises resembled a real 'maison de couture'. It was then that he became known for his red dresses, in a bright shade that became known in the fashion industry as 'Valentino red'.

By the mid 60s, he was already considered the undisputed maestro of Italian style; prestigious names including Audrey Hepburn, Princess Margaret, Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Paola of Belgium and Jacquie Kennedy were regular customers, as well as personal friends.

Valentino’s international debut took place in 1962 in the Italian fashion capital of the time, Florence. His first show at the Pitti Palace was welcomed as a true revelation and the young couturier was flooded with orders from foreign buyers and enthusiastic compliments from the press.

After the breakthrough show in Florence, Valentino began dressing the women of the international best-dressed crowd, such as his acquaintance from the Paris years, Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, and the New York socialites Babe Paley and Jayne Wrightsman.

In 1966, confident of his client base, he moved his shows from Florence to Rome where two years later he achieved one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection that became famous for the 'V' logo he designed.

Valentino spent a considerable amount of time in New York throughout the 1970s , where his presences was wholeheartedly embraced by society personalities, including Vogue’s editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland and the art icon Andy Warhol.

The year 1989 marked the opening of the Accademia Valentino, designed by architect Tommaso Ziffer - a cultural space located near Valentino's atelier in Rome, for the presentation of art exhibitions. The next year, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti created L.I.F.E., an association for the support of AIDS-related patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino.

In September 2007, Valentino announced that he would retire from the world stage after his last haute couture show in Paris the following year.

Since then, Valentino has definitely not disappeared into obscurity. The ready-to-wear brand is still a staple of Italian style, and in 2010 the Dancers of the Vienna State Opera Ballet wore his specially designed costumes for the New Year's Concert played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and broadcast worldwide.