Frank Rondel
Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani, whose refined couture and eveningwear defined red-carpet elegance for more than half a century, has died at the age of 93, according to a statement released by his foundation, reports customreceipt.com via Instagram. The statement said that Garavani passed away peacefully at his residence in Rome, surrounded by members of his family.
Valentino Garavani was born in 1932 in Voghera, a town in northern Italy. He began his professional training in Paris, working in haute couture ateliers that shaped his technical discipline and aesthetic approach. In 1959, he returned to Italy and established his own fashion house in Rome, laying the foundation for what would become one of the most recognizable luxury brands in the world. Early in his career, he developed a distinctive shade of red that became inseparable from his name and was widely referred to within the fashion industry as “Valentino red.”
In 1960, Garavani met Giancarlo Giammetti, then an architecture student, who became his long-term business partner and, for 12 years, his romantic partner. Together, they transformed Valentino SpA into an internationally renowned fashion house, expanding its presence beyond Italy and securing its position among the leading luxury labels of the 20th century.
Among Valentino’s earliest high-profile clients was actress Elizabeth Taylor, whom he met while she was filming Cleopatra in Rome in the early 1960s. As his reputation grew, his designs attracted an elite clientele that included Begum Aga Khan, Queen Paola of Belgium, Audrey Hepburn, Joan Collins and Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1968, Kennedy chose a Valentino gown for her wedding to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, further cementing the designer’s status among the global elite.
Throughout the following decades, Valentino’s influence continued to expand. During the 1970s, he spent considerable time in New York, where his circle included artist Andy Warhol and longtime Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. In the 1990s, his work became closely associated with the era’s supermodels, including Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, who frequently appeared in his collections and runway shows.
Valentino’s designs remained a constant presence on major red carpets, particularly at the Academy Awards. Notable appearances included the heavily embellished gown worn by Jane Fonda in 1981 when she accepted the Oscar on behalf of her father, Henry Fonda; the vintage black-and-white dress worn by Julia Roberts in 2001; Jennifer Lopez’s mint caftan-style gown in 2003; and the bright yellow gown worn by Cate Blanchett in 2005. Both Roberts and Blanchett won Academy Awards in the years they wore Valentino creations. At the 2011 Oscars, Anne Hathaway appeared on the red carpet in a Fall 2002 Valentino couture gown, accompanied by the designer himself. In later years, Zendaya, Carey Mulligan and Gemma Chan were among the actresses who wore Valentino designs to critical acclaim.
Known for his sharply tailored suits, distinctive tan and carefully styled hair, Valentino cultivated the image of a classic Italian gentleman. Outside of fashion, he was a dedicated collector of Chinese antiques and invested significant attention in gardens and floral design, particularly at Chateau Wideville, a 17th-century estate near Paris that he purchased in 1995. He also maintained residences in London, Paris, New York, Spain and Gstaad, Switzerland.
Valentino was also widely known for his affection for his pug dogs, at one point owning six named Milton, Monty, Maude, Margot, Maggie and Molly. In the 2008 documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor, he famously remarked that his dogs mattered more to him than his fashion collections.
In 1998, Valentino sold his company to Italian conglomerate HdP for approximately $300 million, while continuing to work with the brand. He officially retired from the fashion industry in 2008 after more than 45 years, concluding one of the longest careers in haute couture. His retirement was marked by a major fashion show at the Musée Rodin in Paris, where models closed the event wearing identical gowns in his signature red.
That same year, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli were appointed as creative directors of Valentino. Chiuri later became artistic director at Christian Dior in 2016, while Piccioli stepped down in 2024 and was appointed creative director at Balenciaga the following year. After Piccioli’s departure, Alessandro Michele took over creative leadership at Valentino and has overseen the brand’s design direction for nearly two years amid broader changes across the luxury fashion industry.
Valentino Garavani’s death marks the passing of a central figure in postwar European fashion, whose work influenced generations of designers and shaped the visual language of modern couture. In reflecting on his own legacy in the 2008 documentary, he responded to suggestions that he was irreplaceable with a brief remark: “After me, the deluge.”
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