Fashion designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was born on May 11, 1932, in Voghera, Lombardy, Italy. He began working in the fashion industry at a young age, apprenticing under local designers, including his aunt Rosa. His formal training took place in Paris, at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Valentino got his professional start as an apprentice, working in the salons of Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche. Valentino left Paris in 1959 to open a fashion house in Rome. He modelled his business on the grand houses he had seen in Paris. In his early shows, Valentino quickly gained recognition for his red dresses, in a shade that became widely known as “Valentino red.”

In 1960, Valentino met Giancarlo Giammetti in Rome. Giammetti, an architecture student, quickly became Valentino’s partner, both professionally and romantically. Together, the pair developed Valentino SpA into an internationally recognized brand. Valentino’s international debut took place in 1962, at the Pitti Palace in Florence. The show cemented the designer’s reputation and attracted the attention of socialites and aristocratic women from around the world. Within a few years, Valentino’s designs were considered the pinnacle of Italian couture. In 1967, he received the prestigious Neiman Marcus Fashion Award. His client list included the Begum Aga Khan, Queen Paola of Belgium and movie stars Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.

Among Valentino’s most prominent clients was Jacqueline Kennedy. Kennedy developed an interest in the designer’s work after admiring friends in several Valentino ensembles. In 1964, Kennedy ordered six dresses in black and white, which she wore during the year following the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy. She would remain a friend and a client from that point on, linking the Valentino name to her own iconic status in the fashion world. Valentino also designed the dress that Kennedy wore when she wed Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis in 1968.

While maintaining strong ties to Florence and Rome, Valentino spent much of the 1970s in New York. In addition to his friendship with Kennedy, he became close friends with artists such as Andy Warhol. Over the course of his career, Valentino’s primary lines have been Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma and R.E.D. Valentino. In 1998, Garavani and Giammetti sold the brand to Gianni Agnelli for $300 million, after which it was sold again, this time to the Marzotto Group, at a loss. After Garavani’s retirement in 2007, the brand set up various memorial exhibits, including a virtual museum displaying his seminal works and a couture exhibit in London’s Somerset House. To this day, Garavani’s legacy lives on through his brand, by now a well-known international luxury brand, and through the media pieces done on his life, most notably “The Last Emperor,” a popular documentary about his career.

He has been honoured by the French Legion of Honour and has multiple other civic and design-related awards.