As the designer prepares to receive an award for his outstanding achievements at the Fashion Awards 2023 at the beginning of December, Valentino Garavani’s career seems to have not finished galvanising fashion enthusiasts. Focus on a designer of genius who, over the years, has established his brand as an iconic luxury house.
He is surely one of the best-known designers in Italy, and the world in general. Born in 1932 in Voghera in the north-west of the country, Valentino Garavani moved to Paris at the age of 17, where he studied at the École de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne for a few months. The budding artist joined Jean Dessès, a highly renowned fashion house at the time, before assisting the couturier Guy Laroche.
A rapid rise through the fashion world
Armed with this experience, at the very end of the 1950s, at the age of 26, he founded the House of Valentino, run by Giancarlo Giammetti. The iconic Valentino red was revealed in the very first line, before the designer enjoyed resounding success with his White Collection in 1968.
As well as being endorsed by many celebrities, including Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy asked him to design her dress for her wedding to Aristotle Onassis.
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The Valentino aura was born, as was the brand’s famous V logo, validated by the fashionistas of the day.
Years of exponential growth followed, with the opening of boutiques, diversification into perfumes, the creation of outfits for athletes at the 1984 Summer Olympics and the debut of Haute Couture in 1989.
The Valentino style: the Italian dolce vita
Sensual and feminine, the Valentino woman is instantly recognisable. Throughout his lifetime of creations, Valentino Garavani has propelled Italian chic across the globe. Red, flowers, intricate embroidery, lace, geometry, transparency, animal prints… The delicate attention paid to every detail could sum up the Valentino style in one sentence.
After decades of creation, the designer retired from the artistic direction of his brand at the end of the 2000s. He was honoured in the documentary Valentino Garavani The Last Emperor.
He was succeeded for a time by Alessandra Facchinetti, before Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli were appointed to head the collections in 2008. 8 years later, while Maria Grazia Chiuri took off for Dior, Pierpaolo Piccioli remained at the helm of the studios, propelling Valentino into a new era. The Pink PP, which recently created a buzz on social networks for several months, was created under his initiative.
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Valentino Garavani’s remarkable career will earn him an award for outstanding achievement on 4 December at the Fashion Awards 2023, organised by the British Fashion Council at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Read also > SARAH JESSICA PARKER TO BE THE MASTER OF CEREMONY AT THE CFDA FASHION AWARDS 2023
Front page photo: Poster for the documentary Valentino Garavani The Last Emperor © Acolyte Films
