Obituary: Valentino Garavani, fashion designer

The foundation that he established in 2016 with his business partner of 65 years, Giancarlo Giammetti, announced the news on Monday afternoon, sharing that Garavani had passed away at his residence in Rome, “surrounded by his loved ones”. The pair were once romantic partners, but their close association continued throughout Garavani’s life.

Since news of his death broke, countless tributes have been posted on social media from his colleagues, collaborators, muses and global fanbase. “We share with heartfelt sympathy the grief of his loved ones, and we remain committed to preserving and elevating the valued creative, cultural and human heritage he entrusted to us, upon which Maison Valentino is founded,” read a statement from the fashion house he founded in 1959. “His life was a beacon in the ceaseless pursuit of beauty, and guided by that same beauty, we will continue to honour his memory with our deepest devotion.”

Garavani was born in Voghera in the Lombardy region of Italy in 1932, but he was one of Rome’s proudest adopted sons. Having pursued his fashion studies at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne in Paris and worked for the renowned couturiers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, he chose Rome, the Italian capital, to establish his eponymous atelier.

His first collection caused an immediate sensation with its La Fiesta hourglass cocktail dress crafted from red tulle. It marked the beginning of a lifelong connection with the colour that has since been recognised by Pantone. He once said that Valentino red “is flashy, but it’s also very becoming. It makes a woman very happy because she looks sensational.”

Counting Jacqueline Onassis and Elizabeth Taylor as early and loyal fans, the Valentino brand became one of the world’s most coveted and desired luxury labels, with the designer himself becoming synonymous with the glamour of the 1960s and 1970s jet set. The mainstream trends of the 1980s were not his thing, as he told Harper’s Bazaar in 2010: “I didn’t like the 80s at all. It was a vulgar moment of fashion.”

In 1967, he was awarded the prestigious Neiman Marcus Award for his “all white” collection that eschewed the flamboyant colours of the era. It was the first of many accolades that include the Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1985 and his Légion d’Honneur in 2006.

His fashion shows were as popular for the clothes as the supermodels he cast on the catwalk with Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Helena Christensen and Gisele Bündchen all regulars.

Meanwhile, his red-carpet creations were as coveted as his collections, ensuring that whatever Hollywood star wore one of his gowns would steal the show.

On Monday evening, many of the women he dressed took to Instagram to pay tribute.

Schiffer recalled the wedding gown Garavani designed for her, “which I have framed at home as a constant reminder of his gentle, generous, sweet and loyal nature”. Christensen honoured the “profound friendship, partnership and love” he shared with Giammetti, adding: “I am so fortunate to have witnessed it close-up for so many years.” Designer Donatella Versace echoed the sentiment, writing: “My thoughts go to Giancarlo who never left his side for all these years. He will never be forgotten.” Elsewhere, Bianca Jagger called him “a visionary who defined an era of glamour and high fashion”, while long-term friend Gwyneth Paltrow shared her personal anecdotes.

“I was so lucky to know and love Valentino – to know the real man, in private,” wrote Paltrow on Instagram. “The man who was in love with beauty, his family, his muses, his friends. His dogs, his gardens, and a good Hollywood story. I loved him so much. I loved how he always pestered me to ‘at least wear a little mascara’ when I came to dinner. I loved his naughty laugh.”

When Garavani stepped back from the brand in 2008, he was succeeded for a short period by Alessandra Facchinetti before Pierpaolo Piccioli and Maria Grazia Chiuri took the reins. In 2016, Piccioli continued solo when Chiuri moved to Dior, until 2024, when former Gucci designer Alessandro Michele was appointed to the creative director role.

On Monday evening, Piccioli described Garavani’s “almost innocent brilliance as though every idea were always the first, as though wonder had never faded”. He went on: “That is what made everything possible, and magical. For you, beauty was never a luxury nor an ornament: it was a form of defence, a place of safety, the only one possible. A protection, a shield against the world. You were my mentor without ever needing a lectern; you had no need of one. You taught me that fashion is joy, though a profoundly serious kind of joy.”

Michele also celebrated his mentor, saying that Garavani “was not only an undisputed protagonist of fashion, but a central figure in Italian cultural history. A man who pushed the boundaries of possibility, traversing the world with rare delicacy, silent rigour, and a boundless love of beauty.”

Garavani famously lived and breathed the lifestyle he designed for, enjoying his homes around the world in Paris, Tuscany, Gstaad, London, New York City and more. The then publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, John Fairchild, told Vanity Fair in 2004: “Valentino and Giancarlo are the kings of high living.” He bestowed on Garavani the nickname “the sheikh of chic”. The title of the 2008 documentary on his life’s work, Valentino: The Last Emperor, coined another nickname. Only to his close friends and family was he affectionately known as Vava.

Garavani’s chance encounter with Giammetti, then a young architecture student, in 1960 would mark the start of a creative partnership lasting 65 years. Together, they grew the brand from a small atelier with a big dream to a luxury universe that they sold to Italian conglomerate HdP for around $300m in 1998. It has since been sold on to Qatari investment fund Mayhoola, with a 30% stake held by French conglomerate Kering.

Opening the doors to PM23, the cultural hub founded by his foundation and located on the site of the original headquarters on Piazza Mignanelli in Rome, Giammetti told Wallpaper* in May 2025 that it was an emotional milestone. “You don’t realise what you’ve built until you take a step back. Curating this exhibition has been a way to look at our past, not with nostalgia, but as inspiration for what comes next.”

Despite stepping back from the running of the brand, Valentino the man and the name remained a byword for Italian splendour until his death, transcending time through an unapologetic pursuit and appreciation for beauty both in life and art.

Garavani’s lying in state will be held at PM23 on 21 January, while his funeral will take place two days later at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, in Rome.

Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, couturier, was born on 11 May 1932, and died on 19 January 2026, aged 93

Photographs by PAT/ARNAL/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images, Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images