Valentino Garavani, the Italian fashion designer whose pursuit of elegance dressed generations of royalty, Hollywood stars and socialites, died Monday at age 93, his foundation said.
"Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones," the Rome-based Valentino Garavani Foundation wrote on social media. A funeral is scheduled for Friday, with a lying in state Wednesday and Thursday.
Known worldwide simply as Valentino, he built one of fashion’s most enduring luxury brands over nearly five decades, defining glamour with refined silhouettes and his signature shade, “Valentino red.” His designs were worn by Jackie Kennedy, Princess Diana, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Nancy Reagan, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Born May 11, 1932, in Voghera, south of Milan, Valentino showed an early fixation on style. "I have had this illness since childhood," he told Elle Italia in 2007. "I only like beautiful things."
He trained in Paris before working for designers Jean Desses and Guy Laroche, then opened his own fashion house in Rome in 1960, aided by business partner and longtime companion Giancarlo Giammetti. "Being the friend, lover and employee of Valentino for more than 45 years required a lot of patience," Giammetti said in the 2008 documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor.
Valentino’s international breakthrough came after he dressed Jackie Kennedy in the 1960s, including her 1968 wedding gown. He later became the first Italian designer to open a boutique in New York, helping elevate the “Made in Italy” label worldwide.
Dubbed the “Sheik of Chic,” Valentino was celebrated for what the New York Times called his “single-minded dedication to glamour.” He retired in 2008 after his final Paris runway show.
"At some point, you do get to the end," he told The New Yorker in 2005. "And when I do, I hope I will be remembered as a man who pursued beauty whenever he could."
