Legendary Fashion Designer Valentino Garavani Has Died at 93 Years Old
The fashion world is mourning another big name. Valentino Garavani, one of the legendary protagonists of Italian and world fashion, has died at the age of 93. Born in Voghera, Garavani’s life spanned from Paris to the Dolce Vita of Rome, eventually arriving in New York and achieving worldwide success. At a time when the term “celebrity” did not yet exist, everyone wanted to wear Valentino and its signature red, a precursor to the use of color as a distinctive feature of the brand.
In Paris, he worked with Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, in Rome with Emilio Schuberth and in the workshop of Vincenzo Ferdinandi, until the creation of his own fashion house in 1957. His friendship and working relationship with Giancarlo Giammetti marked another turning point in the designer’s career, and two years later he opened his first boutique in Rome.
It is impossible to summarize Garavani’s life and professional achievements in a single article: suffice it to say that with him passed the last member of a dynasty of great Italian couturiers, a dynasty that survives today in part thanks to all the designers who shared a phase of their career with Valentino. Although Valentino stepped away from fashion in 2007, leaving leadership of the brand to Alessandra Facchinetti, the importance of her work continued to permeate the brand that bears her name in the years that followed.
Whoever took the reins was confronted with a creative universe that today seems distant, the one in which Valentino Garavani’s creations took shape. With him, not only does one of the last great fashion icons leave us, but undoubtedly also a personality who shaped the world of fashion in his own image.
This article was originally published by GQ Italy.
