Italian Fashion Designer, Valentino Garavani Dies at Age 93
Valentino Garavani, the Italian fashion designer whose name became synonymous with mastery of colour, elegance and haute couture, has died at the age of 93.
His foundation announced yesterday that he passed away peacefully at his Roman residence, surrounded by loved ones.
After the foundation’s announcement, formal condolence messages and public tributes came in broadly from across fashion, culture and public life.
According to his foundation, Valentino will lie in state on Wednesday and Thursday, ahead of his funeral in Rome on Friday, allowing admirers, industry figures and the public to pay their final respects.
Known simply as Valentino, the deceased was more than a designer and was a cultural force who shaped how elegance looked, felt and moved for more than half a century.
From the glamour of post-war Rome to the grand salons of Paris, Valentino built a fashion empire rooted in craftsmanship, colour and an unwavering devotion to beauty.
Born Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, Lombardy, he developed an interest in fashion while still in primary school.
Encouraged by his parents, he apprenticed locally before moving to Paris at the age of 18, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture. Those formative years in Paris shaped his technical discipline and refined his aesthetic sensibility.
