Valentino Garavani Has Died

Valentino Garavani Has Died
​The legendary couturier died Monday in Rome, aged 93.
Valentino Garavani, the legendary Italian fashion designer known mononymously as Valentino, has died. He was 93.
Garavani founded the luxury fashion house Valentino on Via Condotti in Rome in 1960, and it quickly became known as a leading “maison de haute couture”.
Among his early successes, Garavani designed the wedding gown worn by former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy at her marriage to business tycoon Aristotle Onassis in 1968.
In a statement on social media, Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti said: “Our founder, Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones.
“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.“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.”

Garavani was born in Voghera, in Northern Italy, on May 11, 1932. His mother named him after the famed Italian movie star Rudolph Valentino.
He was fascinated by fashion design from a young age, and went to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. While still in Paris he apprenticed with Jacques Fath, Balenciaga and Jean Desses.
In 1959, at the age of 27, he returned to Rome where he opened his own fashion house the following year. He was known for his striking dresses, often in a bright shade that became known as “Valentino red”.

Valentino Garavani on the front row of his Valentino Haute Couture Fall/Winter show in 2019 alongside Benedetta Piccioli, Naomi Campbell and Gwyneth Paltrow. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)In 1964, Jacqueline Kennedy became a fan of Valentino and bought six black-and-white haute couture dresses that she wore during her high-profile year of mourning for President John F Kennedy, who had been assassinated the previous year.
Garavani’s association with Kennedy helped grow his reputation in the United States, and he spent much of the 1970s based in New York City. He became a well-known public figure, and had his portrait painted by Andy Warhol. “He was very nice all the time with me,” Garavani recalled in an interview with System Magazine. “He invited me to the Factory many times, and I was admiring all the paintings on the floor – you had to be careful not to step on them.”
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