FASHION QUOTE VALENTINO

2026 JANUARY

FASHION QUOTE
VALENTINO

“I love beauty. It’s not my fault.”

Written by Andrew Sia

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From the Desk of the Publisher

We read that at Valentino’s age of 17, his parents indulged their son’s passion and sent him to Paris. He studied in a number of schools and studios. He began his apprenticeship under Jean Dessès, a Greek designer famous for classical draped evening gowns worn by the European royalty and film stars. He joined Guy Laroche afterwards. On a holiday in Barcelona in 1949, he was fascinated to see so many beautiful women in the audience at an opera house wearing red. He went crazy for the color and later became known for designing with Valentino Red. He used both red and black as basic colors—color and noncolor.

In 1959, he was funded by his father to start a couture house in Rome, soon the money was exhausted. Luckily, he had his acquaintance, Giancarlo Giammetti, joined him and Giancarlo abandoned his architecture and managed the business and turned it is into a viable business. The rest was all history.

Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, known as Valentino, was an Italian fashion designer who founded Valentino S.p.A., a luxury fashion house, in 1960 and served as its creative director until 2007. The fashion house is known for perfume, cologne, bags, shoes, beauty, and women’s and men’s fashion.

He was born May 11, 1932, in Voghera, Italy, and died January 19, 2026, at the age of 93, in Rome.

Valentino is considered as one of the last grand couturiers of the 20th century who brought Parisian haute couture to Rome and defined the style of the Dolce Vita jet set.

Valentino was born in Voghera, a small town in Lombardian region. At his young age he already knew that he wanted to work in fashion. His parents sent him to Paris when he was 17, and from there he attended the École des Beaux-Arts, a fashion school run by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.

In Paris, Valentino worked as an apprentice at the couture house of Jean Dessès, a Greek designer famous for classical draped evening gowns worn by the European royalty and film stars. Five years later he joined Guy Laroche, and those Parisian years left a deep impression on Valentino and his experience from the socialites who patronized the salons.

After his stint in Paris, he returned to Rome in 1959, and with the parents’ financial support, he created the first collection under his name on the prestige Via Condotti. Also, it was the time Italy was rebuilding itself after the second world war and Rome was at the center of this renaissance, a bubbling hub of art, design, cinema and glitz. Valentino was like a fish in the water and was able to use his training from Paris. Soon his business hit bankruptcy as the profit for the business of the haute couture was slim as the quantities were also very limited.

Valentino was lucky enough to meet with Giancarlo Giammetti, who studied architect. The two long personal and professional partnership lasted until the end of the designer’s life. The two were partners for more than 50 years and romantic partners from the date they met in 1960 until 1972.

During the time, Valentino dressed Elizabeth Taylor for the premiere of Spartacus, Jacqueline Kennedy in the years of mourning for her husband John F Kennedy, and for the wedding to Aristotle Onassis five years later, as well as Princess Margaret, Lee Radziwill, an American socialite, fashion icon, and interior designer, and Babe Paley, who was also a renowned American socialite, fashion icon, and Vogue magazine editor.

From Audrey Hepburn to Nancy Reagan, Princess Diane, Jennifer Lopez, Valentino was the go-to designer for the rich, famous, powerful, and glamorous.

Between 1970s and 1980s, Valentino signed up to 70 licenses, expanding his empire through fragrance, home furnishing, and lingerie.

“Valentino: The Last Emperor” a film being released in 2009 which documented the last two years he worked as a designer. You can watch the official trailer from Youtube: OFFICIAL TRAILER Valentino The Last Emperor HD | Valentinomovie.

Valentino was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award at The Fashion Awards in London on December 4, 2023. Earlier on, he was the recipient of a Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2017.

Youtube: OFFICIAL TRAILER Valentino The Last Emperor HD | Valentinomovie | 2:32

The two of them, Valentino and Giammetti, sold Valentino to an Italian holding company in 1998 for $300 million. Later, Valentino has been owned by Qatari investment fund Mayhoola since 2012. In 2023, it sold a 30% stake to Kering for €1.7 billion. The conglomerate has the option to buy the remaining 70% in 2029 for an estimated price of €4 billion.

Valentino enjoyed the public life, continued to attend fashion shows, red carpets, and social events well into his 80s. In his last years, he suffered from health issues and retreated from the limelight.

The current creative director at Valentino is Alessandro Michele.

Valentino’s famous quote which I picked is:

“I love beauty. It’s not my fault.”