Legendary Italian Fashion Designer, Valentino Garavani Dies at Age 93

Chiemelie Ezeobi

Valentino Garavani, the Italian fashion designer whose name became synonymous with mastery of colour, elegance and haute couture, has died at the age of 93.

His foundation announced yesterday that he passed away peacefully at his Roman residence, surrounded by loved ones.

After the foundation’s announcement, formal condolence messages and public tributes came in broadly from across fashion, culture and public life.

According to his foundation, Valentino will lie in state on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of his funeral in Rome on Friday, allowing admirers, industry figures and the public to pay their final respects.

Known simply as Valentino, the deceased was more than a designer and was a cultural force who shaped how elegance looked, felt and moved for more than half a century.

From the glamour of post-war Rome to the grand salons of Paris, Valentino built a fashion empire rooted in craftsmanship, colour and an unwavering devotion to beauty.

Born Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, Lombardy, he developed an interest in fashion while still in primary school.

Encouraged by his parents, he apprenticed locally before moving to Paris at the age of 18, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. Those formative years in Paris shaped his technical discipline and refined his aesthetic sensibility.

According to Wikipedi, Valentino’s early professional experience included working under Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, before he returned to Italy to learn from Emilio Schuberth and Vincenzo Ferdinandi.

In 1960, he opened his own fashion house on Via Condotti in Rome, a city then alive with cinematic glamour, fuelled by the golden age of Cinecittà and its Hollywood stars.

His international breakthrough came in the mid-1960s, and by the 1970s and 1980s, the Valentino name had become firmly established at the summit of high fashion.

Central to his legacy was his mastery of colour, particularly the now-iconic “Valentino Red”, a vivid, sensual shade that became both his signature and a permanent addition to the fashion lexicon.

Valentino was not alone in building his empire. His longtime partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, brought business acumen and strategic vision, helping transform a couture house into a global luxury brand.

Together, they navigated decades of growth, expansion and change, ultimately selling the company to the HdP Group in 1998 for US$300 million.

Despite the sale, Valentino remained creatively involved for years. His final haute couture show took place in Paris in 2008, nearly five decades after his debut.

Fashion critic Suzy Menkes described the collection as a transportive moment, filled with fantasy, femininity and theatrical grace. It was a fitting farewell from a designer who had always treated fashion as an art form.

Beyond the runway, Valentino’s influence extended into popular culture. He made a cameo appearance in the Oscar-nominated film The Devil Wears Prada, subtly underscoring his status as a living legend within the industry.

 In 2011, the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum opened, offering the world’s first immersive digital fashion museum and preserving his work for future generations.

His contributions were recognised with numerous honours, including France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur, the Medal of the City of Paris, the Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion, and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Fashion Awards in 2023.

As Rome prepares to bid farewell, the fashion world reflects on a life devoted to elegance, discipline and timeless beauty.

Valentino Garavani leaves behind not just a brand, but a visual language of couture that will continue to inspire long after the final bow.