Paris Fashion Week Mourns Valentino as Couture Era’s Icon Passes
Valentino Garavani, 93, died in Rome; Paris Fashion Week mourned the couturier whose signature red, craftsmanship, and celebrity clientele helped define 20th-century couture lasting globally.
Overview
Valentino Garavani, 93, died at his Rome residence, the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation said; his death overshadowed the opening of Paris Fashion Week menswear.
Renowned for 'Valentino red', ruffles, knots and sculptural silhouettes, he dressed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor, influencing celebrity culture and red-carpet style.
Trained in Paris and founder of his Rome maison in 1959, Valentino bridged Italian elegance and Paris couture rituals, presenting decades of collections in France.
Designers, editors and guests at Paris Fashion Week recalled his permanence and restraint, mourning the couturier as a living institution rather than a transient brand.
The Valentino house continues under new leadership, with Alessandro Michele succeeding Pierpaolo Piccioli after his 2024 departure; Mayhoola and Kering ownership sustains the brand commercially.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame Valentino’s death nostalgically, emphasizing tradition and elegance through loaded descriptors (“titan,” “leviathans,” “radiating quiet grandeur”). They foreground authoritative fashion insiders’ praise, curate evocative personal recollections, and structure coverage as an elegy—prioritizing admiration while omitting critical perspectives on couture’s social relevance or commercialized present.
Sources (9)
FAQ
'Valentino red' is a rich, poppy hue introduced in his Spring/Summer 1959 collection with a strapless tulle dress called ‘La fiesta’. It became synonymous with the house, is officially recognized by Pantone, and every collection includes a red dress, inspired by his childhood memories of the Opera.
Valentino dressed icons like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Princess Diana, Jackie Kennedy, Jennifer Lopez, Marisa Berenson, Talitha Getty, Julia Roberts, Penélope Cruz, Halle Berry, Gwyneth Paltrow, and supermodels such as Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington.
Valentino trained in Paris under designers like Jean Dessès, Christian Dior, and Guy Laroche, then founded his maison in Rome in 1959 (or 1960 per some sources), bridging Italian elegance with Paris couture.
Valentino retired in 2007 with his final haute couture show in 2008. Pierpaolo Piccioli departed in 2024, succeeded by Alessandro Michele as creative director, under ownership by Mayhoola and Kering.
Tributes poured in from Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others, praising his legacy in elegance, glamour, and dressing women beautifully. Paris Fashion Week mourned him as a living institution.
History
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