Valentino Garavani—universally known as Valentino Garavani—has died at the age of 93, ending a near half-century career in which he dressed generations of the world’s most celebrated women, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Princess Diana.
“Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones,” his Rome-based foundation announced on social media. A funeral is scheduled for Friday in Rome, with a lying in state on Wednesday and Thursday.
Best known simply as Valentino, the designer became synonymous with refined glamour and his signature “Valentino red.” His creations were worn by an elite roster spanning eras—Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Nancy Reagan, and, in later years, Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts, and Gwyneth Paltrow. When Iran’s empress Farah Pahlavi fled the country during the 1979 revolution, she did so in a Valentino coat.
Dubbed “the Sheik of Chic” by Women’s Wear Daily in the 1980s, Valentino was later praised by The New York Times (1997) for his “single-minded dedication to glamour.” On the runway—and in his own life—he projected meticulous luxury, from an immaculate coiffure and caramel tan to residences spanning Rome, New York, Paris, Switzerland and a 50-metre yacht, often accompanied by his beloved pugs.
Born on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, south of Milan, Valentino was named after silent-film star Rudolph Valentino. The son of an electric-cables businessman, he showed early signs of obsession with fashion, later remarking: “I have had this illness since childhood. I only like beautiful things.”
Candid and exacting, he once lamented casual dress as a loss of standards, insisting elegance reflected self-respect. Few designers embodied that belief so completely—or influenced global notions of glamour so enduringly—as Valentino Garavani.