The world-renowned fashion designer Valentino has died. According to the Italian news agency Ansa on Monday, citing the foundation he established with his longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti, the designer, born Valentino Garavani, died at the age of 93 in his Rome apartment. The fashion house he founded did not confirm the death announcement at first.
Valentino was regarded as one of the world’s most important haute couture designers. For decades, his gowns were worn by Hollywood stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, and Julia Roberts, but also by Princess Diana and Jackie Kennedy — after the assassination of her husband John F. Kennedy, she bought six gowns that she wore in the year after his death, and Valentino also designed her wedding dress for her marriage to Aristotle Onassis. The last empress of Iran, Farah Diba, fled the country after the Islamic Revolution in a Valentino coat.
The born May 1932 in Voghera, south of Milan, Valentino opened his own fashion house in 1960 together with his partner Giammetti — and within a few years turned it into an international top fashion house. Valentino was regarded as one of the ambassadors of Italian fashion, but he was also closely connected to France: in 2006 he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor. He stepped away from the fashion business in early 2008.
A large chosen family and a fashion house remain
The designer and Giammetti had met in Rome in 1960 and were together until 1972, but remained close friends. Thus both became godfathers to two sons fathered by a later lover of Valentino after his relationship with his then-wife. In 1980 Valentino met his later partner, the model Bruce Hoeksema. According to Giammetti, all of these people stayed on good terms and formed a family.
Valentino was known for a luxurious and extravagant lifestyle along with multiple properties in Italy, Britain, France, and the United States, as well as for his love of dogs. He ultimately owned six pugs. One of his collections, Oliver, is named after a dog. In the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Valentino made a cameo appearance.
The designer’s body is to lie in state on Wednesday and Thursday at Piazza Mignanelli in Rome, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The funeral service will take place on Friday, January 23, at 11 a.m. at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. After his death, his legacy lives on: The fashion house has been led by Alessandro Michele as creative director since 2025.
