Valentino with a dog

Jackie Kennedy-Onassis chose his outfits for mourning for her first husband and wedding with her second

Jackie Kennedy-Onassis chose his outfits for mourning for her first husband and wedding with her second. In the dress of his work, Julia Roberts received an Oscar. His name has become one of the most recognizable brands of our time. A fanatic of red, a favorite of world fashion, a favorite designer of aristocrats and Hollywood stars, Valentino Garavani says goodbye to fashion. On January 23, in Paris, he will show his latest haute couture collection and leave, leaving the management of the Valentino fashion house to young successors - Alessandra Facchinetti and Ferruccio Pozzoni

With the departure of the last of the great couturiers of the 20th century, the change in priorities and the ideological base of the fashion industry becomes especially noticeable. Conceptual solutions and the triumph of mass market ideas remain on the catwalks. But the immodest charm of old capitals and the brilliance of high society will no longer exist.

Aunt Rose's School

“I want to stop at the pinnacle of fame,” says the designer. — Even as a child, fashion was my passion, and I am happy that I had the opportunity to do what I love all my life. There can be no greater gift for me."

Valentino Garavani began his design career with the fact that during his school years, under the guidance of his aunt Rosa and local seamstress Ernestina Salvadeo, he mastered tailoring skills. At the age of 17, he moved to Paris and entered the School of Fine Arts at the Paris Syndicate of Haute Couture. The talented student collaborated with Jacques Fath and Balenciaga. Then he got an internship with Jean Dessais, where he helped the brilliant aristocrat and muse of a whole generation, Viscountess Jacqueline de Ribe, sketch models and decorate windows. It was these years of work with Jean Desse, whose clients included the Spanish royal family, that shaped Valentino's views: communication with European high society instilled in him an exquisite taste and a habit of unobtrusive luxury.

The couturier still does not like to remember why Desse left the fashion house. The scandal erupted because Valentino did not return on time from his vacation, which he spent in Saint-Tropez. However, this incident served Valentino well - inspired by his friend Guy Laroche, he returned to Rome and in 1959 opened his "little, little fashion house" there.

However, at first things did not go as well as we would like. Despite the fact that the Italian fashion designer brought French style to Rome, and the models for the shows flew in from Paris, in the early years of his fashion house, Valentino squandered all the money allocated to him by his father, and was close to bankruptcy. Prone to luxury and glamor, he never thought about the financial component of the fashion business. The meeting with Giancarlo Giammetti turned out to be fateful - he became the most devoted admirer of Valentino, his constant partner and assistant in money matters. Giammetti took up the solution of financial troubles, leaving Valentino free field for creativity.

Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence. The show at the Pitti Palace was favorably received by the press and buyers, and a circle of loyal admirers of his style began to form around the fashion designer - ladies from high society gladly ordered impeccably elegant outfits for him.

In 1964, Valentino met Jackie Kennedy. The newly widowed first lady of the United States ordered six black-and-white mourning dresses from the couturier. However, Jackie, who understood luxury like no other, subsequently turned to Valentino on more joyful occasions. The Italian fashion designer created for her a wedding dress for her wedding with Aristotle Onassis.

The year of real triumph was 1968 for Valentino. The designer released his famous "White Collection", and it was in it that the "V" logo first appeared, which later became one of the most recognizable in the fashion world. In the 1970s, Valentino was particularly influenced by Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor-in-chief of American Vogue, who instilled in him a love of red.

The trademark and the most recognizable feature of Valentino's style is the mandatory presence of scarlet dresses in every collection. A special red color, called rosso Valentino, is distinguished by iridescence and play of shades. The formula for success in combining purple, yellow and black.

...not counting the dog

Valentino's collections appeared in the swinging and hippie 60s, when both the representatives of the old European aristocracy and the holders of new capital had a feeling of uncertainty and bewilderment: the world was changing too quickly and incomprehensibly. And Valentino's outfits - impeccably stylish, sophisticated, feminine - seemed to return to the times of social stability. It is not surprising that wealthy clients were crazy about him.

The heroine of Valentino has always been a lady from high society, and in addition to Jackie Kennedy, his muses were the brilliant Jacqueline de Ribe and Wallis Simpson. The couturier did exactly what was expected of him: absolute elegance and nobility using the most delicate fabrics, subtle shades, exquisite prints and warm tones.

It is difficult to talk about the evolution of Valentino's style or the innovation of his design: for decades he has varied the same concept of eternal femininity and made "beauty the Italian way" with an abundance of colors and flowing fabrics. Organza, silk, chiffon are the main materials of his collections. This is the most correct clothing for events with a black tie dress code - moderately restrained, moderately sexy, always decorating its owner.

Valentino himself is a connoisseur and lover of a beautiful life. Together with former partner Giancarlo Giammetti, he collected paintings, and now the walls of his houses in Rome, Paris, New York and London are decorated with works by Picasso and Damien Hirst. For more than twenty years, Valentino has been happy with her boyfriend Bruce Hoeksma and cannot imagine his life without six pugs who are always with him. Once the designer named one of his clothing lines in honor of the pug Oliver, and now, when flying, he requires three limousines to arrive at the airport: in the first he rides himself, in the second they carry luggage, and in the third - the pugs Maude, Margo, Monty, Molly, Milton and Maggie.

In 1998, Valentino sold his concern. The Italian group of companies HDP paid the couturier $300 million, and four years later resold the Valentino SpA brand to the Milanese concern Marzotto Apparel. Now the brand's annual profit is $ 180 million, and Valentino decided to retire from creating collections. He will be replaced by two designers: Alessandra Facchinetti, who previously worked at Gucci, will take care of the women's line, and Ferruccio Pozzoni, who collaborated with Prada and Brioni, will take on the men's line.

The great creator and seller of beauty, Valentino remained a man of his circle and his age. In 2007, in Paris, he triumphantly celebrated the 45th anniversary of his fashion house and his own 75th birthday. He is known all over the world, but perhaps most loved in Rome, the city where his fashion house has been flourishing for almost half a century. Mayor Walter Veltroni says: "I don't know people who would be more popular here than the Pope and Valentino."