Iconic Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani died aged of 93 ’surrounded by his loved ones’ at his home in Rome on Monday, its been announced.
His foundation took to Instagram to confirm the tragic news and to confirm his body would lay in state ahead of Friday’s funeral at Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome´s Piazza della Repubblica.
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, known mononymously as Valentino, dressed everyone from Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham to Princess Diana and former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy throughout his incredible sixty year career.
He was renowned for his impeccable tailoring, glam gowns as well as the use signature shade of red, now universally known as ‘Valentino red’.
The statement read:’ The foundazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giametti announces the passing of its founder, Valentino Garvani, who peacefully passed away today at his residence in Tome, surrounded by his family’.
‘The lying in state will be held at PM23 in Piazza Mignanelli 23 on Wednesday January 21st and Thursday January 22nd, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm’.
Iconic Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani died aged of 93 ’surrounded by his loved ones’ at his home in Rome on Monday (pictured with Kim Kardashian in 2014)
His foundation took to Instagram to confirm the tragic news following his passing at his home in Rome (Pictured with Victoria Beckham in 2018)
Valentino, dressed everyone from Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham to Elizabeth Taylor (pictured with Princess Diana 1990)
The statement read:’ The Foundazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giametti announces the passing of its founder, Valentino Garvani’
Before adding: ‘The funeral will take place on Friday, January 23rd at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, in Piazza della Repubblica 8 in Rome, at 11 am’.
Gwyneth Paltrow shared a heartbreaking tribute to her dear friend after he dressed her for many events, such as the Met Gala, several Hollywood awards shows, and her wedding to Brad Falchuk in 2018.
‘I was so lucky to know and love Valentino-to know the real man, in private,’ began her Instagram note.
‘The man who was in love with beauty, his family, his muses, his friends. His dogs, his gardens, and a good Hollywood story. I loved him so much. I loved how he always pestered me to “at least wear a little mascara” when I came to dinner. I loved his naughty laugh.
‘This feels like the end of an era. He will be deeply missed by me and all who loved him. Rest in peace, Vava.’
The Oscar-winning actress often vacationed with him on his yacht with his friends.
She also wore one of his pink gowns to the 2013 Met Gala. And He dressed her in a white lace wedding gown when she tied the knot with Falchuk seven years ago.
Meanwhile Fans and famous friends rushed to the foundation’s comments section to share their condolences with supermodel Helena Christensen writing: ‘Such wonderful memories with this beautiful talented man and genius’.
He was renowned for his impeccable tailoring, glam gowns as well as the use signature shade of red, now universally known as ‘Valentino red’ (pictured 2007)
The designer with models like Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista after a fashion show on October 20, 1991 in Paris
Valentino founded the Valentino label in 1960 and sold the brand in 1998 for $300million and designed his last collection in 2008 (pictured 1995)
Zendaya pictured in 2022 Valentino campaign
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was born in 1932 just south of Milan in the small town of Voghera (pictured 1970)
Also appeared as himself in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada (pictured with Meryl Streep in the movie)
His luxurious line with glamorous gowns quickly developed a loyal clientele, including Elizabeth Taylor (pictured together 1990) who became one of his first famous customers
Pictured with Jacqueline Onassis in 1970
Valentino (L) apprenticed for various Parisian couture houses, before returning to Rome to launch his own brand with business and romantic partner Giancarlo Giammetti (R) in 2008
Valentino and Giancarlo had a 12-year romantic relationship but that transitioned into one of ‘fraternal love’ and the pair became ‘blood brothers’ (With Kris Jenner 2018)
Gwyneth Paltrow shared a heartbreaking tribute to her dear friend (pictured together 2019)
Paltrow was seen kissing the designer in her Monday Instagram tribute
While Linda Evangelista and Daphne Guinness both shared a slew of emojis so display their heartbreak.
Meanwhile fans said: ‘Rest in peace Emperor. Your legacy will live on longer than any of us’: ‘what a pity…. the greatest of them all’: ‘Thank you for the beauty you gave us. Rest in peace Big one’: ‘Another irreplaceable has left us…’.
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was born in 1932 just south of Milan in the small town of Voghera.
His passion for fashion began as a young boy, and at age 17, he moved to Paris to study at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
Throughout the 1950s, Valentino apprenticed for various Parisian couture houses, before returning to Rome to launch his own brand with business and romantic partner Giancarlo Giammetti, 87.
The luxurious line with glamorous gowns quickly developed a loyal clientele, including Elizabeth Taylor, who became one of his first famous customers.
The company also entered the beauty marked in 1979 with the launch of its first fragrance, followed by a make-up line in 2021.
Valentino and Giancarlo had a 12-year romantic relationship but that transitioned into one of ‘fraternal love’ and the pair became ‘blood brothers’.
The Oscar-winning actress often vacationed with him on his yacht with his friends
Paltrow in Valentino at the Costume Institute Gala for the PUNK: Chaos to Couture exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 6, 2013
The company also entered the beauty marked in 1979 with the launch of its first fragrance, followed by a make-up line in 2021 (pictured 2003)
He sold the brand in 1998 for a whopping $300million before designing his last collection for the label and retiring in 2008 (With Anne Hathaway 2011)
Princess Diana dressed in Valentino in London 1992
Nicola Peltz paid tribute to the late designer after he created her 2022 wedding dress for her marriage to Brooklyn Beckham
Brooklyn and Nicola we d in April 2022 in a lavish £3.5M wedding at the Peltz family estate in Palm Beach, Florida
Fans and famous friends rushed to the comments to share their condolences
Giancarlo told Vanity Fair in 2013: ‘I was just 30 when the physical part of our relationship ended, and it was difficult in the beginning, we had to solve problems with jealousy’.
‘But we’re all grown up—very grown up—and we know that time solves every problem. We’ve always wanted to be the best for the other. But, you know, from the beginning Valentino and I never lived together’.
Before adding: ‘That’s probably why your love for each other lasted.’
He sold the brand in 1998 for a whopping $300million before designing his last collection for the label and retiring in 2008.
He was briefly replaced by fellow Italian Alessandra Facchinetti, who had stepped into Tom Ford´s shoes at Gucci before being sacked after two seasons.
Facchinetti´s tenure at Valentino proved equally short. As early as her first show for the label, rumors swirled that she was already on her way out, and just about one year after she was hired, Facchinetti was indeed replaced by two longtime accessories designers at the brand, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli.
Chiuri left to helm Dior in 2016, and Piccioli continued to lead the house through a golden period that drew on the launch of the Rockstud pump with Chiuri and his own signature colour, a shade of fuchsia called Pink PP. He left the house in 2024, later joining Balenciaga, and has been replaced by Alessandro Michele, who revived Gucci´s stars with romantic, genderless styles.
Models join the public in clapping hands as they flank Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani at the end of the show of his spring-summer collection in Rome in 1971
With Sharon Stone wearing the wedding gown at the end of the presentation of Valentino’s 1994 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection presented in Paris in 1993
Valentino is owned by Qatar´s Mayhoola, which controls a 70% stake, and the French luxury conglomerate Kering, which owns 30% with an option to take full control in 2028 or 2029. Richard Bellini was named CEO last September.
Valentino has been the subject of several retrospectives, including one at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which is housed in a wing of Paris´ Louvre Museum. He was also the subject of a hit 2008 documentary, ‘Valentino: The Last Emperor,’ that chronicled the end of his career in fashion.
‘We left because the industry changed and meetings were all about money, not design. Sales forecasts decided what got created. The conglomerates made each label work to the same model’ Giancarlo told FT in 2023.
Speaking about his incredible career in Valentino: A Grand Italian Epic, which was published last year, the designer said: ‘I think I have succeeded because through all these decades I was always concerned about making beautiful clothes,’
‘The grunge look, the messy look. I don’t care; I really don’t care. I cannot see women destroyed, not well combed or looking strange and stupid make-up and dresses that make the body look ridiculous’.
‘I am not this kind of gentleman; I am not this kind of creator. I want to make a girl who, when she’s dressed and arrives in some place, people turn and say: “You look so sensational!” This is always what I did, what I really wanted to achieve all the time’.
