Valentino Clements Ludovico Garavani, widely known as simply Valentino, has had an outstanding career spanning 45 years. His fashion house is amongst the most famous in the world, especially for his famed haute couture collections that have been worn by the worlds most beautiful women.
In September the fashion world began to mourn as Valentino announced his retirement. Here we look back and celebrate the 45 years of outstanding work by Valentino...
Where It All Began
Valentino first became interested in fashion whilst at school in his native Voghera, a small town in Lombardy, Italy. His first experience of fashion design came when he worked under his aunt Rosa and a local designer called Ernestina Salvadeo.
At the age of 17 he moved to Paris to pursue his love of fashion, there he studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. He then worked for various designers including the countess Jacqueline de Ribes with whom he helped sketch ideas for dresses. Before returning to Rome in 1959, he worked for Guy Laroche's fashion house. On his return to Rome with his lover, socialite Gerald Nanty, Valentino opened his fashion house on the posh Via Condotti with the help of his father. Valentino wanted everything to be very grand - something that was along the lines of what he had experienced in Paris. Rather than just being an atelier the fashion house looked much more like a 'house of couture'.
World Wide Success
Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence. His first show at the Pritti Palace was a real revelation and soon snough hoards of orders came flooding in from around the world. He also had rave reviews from the press.
The pinicle moment of Valentino becoming a designer to the stars was when none other than style icon Jackie Kennedy began to wear his designs. After Jackie saw her friend Gloria Schiff, twin sister of Vogue editor and Valentino's friend Consuelo Crespi, wearing a two piece ensemble by the designer, she rang her friend to find out who the designer was. Valentino heard of her interest and he sent a saleslady and model for a private viewing at her Fifth Avenue apartment in New York. Jackie ordered six outfits and from then on became a devout client and friend to the designer. Other devoted famous fans include Elizabeth Taylor, Halle Berry, Jennifer Garner, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Naomi Watts, Claire Danes, Gwen Stefani, Lindsay Lohan, and Gwenyth Paltrow.
Julia Roberts chose a vintage Valentino gown for the Oscars in 2001 where she won best actress. It was a stunning black gown from the 1980's with elegant white piping and gained Julia a massive amount of publicity. This also kicked off a trend for actresses choosing to wear vintage gowns from past collections from designers rather than from the current collections.
Valentino spent a considerable amount of time in New York where he was the toast of the party scene in the 1970's. Friends included Andy Warhol and Vogue Editor in chief Diana Vreeland.
Inspirations
Valentino has been inspired by many glamorous women that he has met through his 45 year career. These women have become close friends, and Valentino likes to refer to them as his "family". This includes Spanish socialites Nati Abascal, a former model who was married to the Duke of Feria, and Rosario of Bulgaria, the wife of Prince Kyril of Bulgaria. Valentino's PR Daniela Giardina, architect Tommaso Ziffer, a close friend of Giancarlo Giammetti, and actress Gwyneth Paltrow are also part of the group. Gwyneth is supposedly the woman who is allowed to wear jeans in Valentino's presence!
The Look
Valentino's designs are extremely glamorous and elegant, his design ability really came to life in his haute couture collections. Valentino's designs have stayed faithful to this measure of glamour and elegance throughout his career. Through his collections, it's obvious that Valentino has catered for women who have a glamorous jet -set lifestyle.
Valentino's trademark red colour, known as rosso Valentino, is a combination of 100% magenta, 100% yellow and 10% black.
Throughout his career he has created luxurious gowns for the rich and famous that have intricate detailing and a body-conscious sillhouette. The fabrics are usually very delicate but rich such as chiffons and silk-crepe. The menswear collections are known for their incredibly sharp, classic tailoring.
The 45 Year Celebration
There was a huge 2 day extravaganza in Rome to celebrate Valentino's 45th anniversary from the 6th-8th of July 2007. Festivities started on Thursday 5th July with a dinner for Valentino's assistants and employees at Ristorante Gusto and ended on Sunday 8th July with the launch of a perfume and a brunch at the French Academy of Villa Medici.
Valentino has said that he doesn't plan to retire from fashion designing altogether, he plans to design outfits for the theatre and opera.
Female First- Liz Griffiths
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