The House of Valentino has long stood as a symbol of Italian excellence, couture romance, and bold femininity. Following the news of founder Valentino Garavani’s passing, we take a moment to reflect on the milestones that transformed his atelier into a global fashion institution. From iconic couture shows to pop-culture moments that reshaped the brand’s identity, these are the ten defining moments and a peak into his life’s story that forever imprinted Valentino onto the historic pages of fashion.

Maison Valentino, Est. 1959

Born in 1932 in Voghera, Italy, Valentino Garavani’s devotion to fashion began remarkably early at an apprenticeship under a local designer while he was in primary school, before moving to Paris at just 17 to study at the prestigious Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. There, he honed his craft in the ateliers of Jacques Fath, Balenciaga, Jean Dessès, and Guy Laroche, absorbing the discipline of haute couture and the poetry of silhouette.

In 1959, he returned to Italy with a vision of building his own maison, founding Valentino in Rome alongside Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner and lifelong companion. Together they shaped the house’s global presence with Valentino focusing on creation. From the beginning, the house stood for elegance, romance, and exceptional craftsmanship, values that would define Valentino for more than six decades.

The Brides of Valentino

Few fashion houses are as intrinsically woven into modern bridal history as Valentino. For decades, royals, celebrities, and society icons have turned to the Roman maison for one of the most important garments of their lives.

The legacy began in 1968, when Jackie Kennedy chose an off-the-rack Valentino lace gown to marry Aristotle Onassis which was a moment that quietly reshaped the bridal industry and cemented Valentino as the ultimate couturier of modern romance. From Anne Hathaway and Nicola Peltz-Beckham to Princess Madeleine of Sweden, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, Courteney Cox, and Elizabeth Taylor, the maison’s bridal creations have become synonymous with elegance, intimacy, and cinematic beauty.

Since then, Valentino has continued to dress generations of high-profile brides. Jennifer Lopez married Cris Judd in 2001 wearing a white lace Valentino gown and veil, while Gwyneth Paltrow echoed the house’s timeless femininity in a similar silhouette for her 2018 wedding to Brad Falchuk. In 2015, Nicky Hilton married James Rothschild in London in a high-neck lace gown designed by then creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Valentino Red: The Signature Dress

Few fashion signatures are as instantly recognisable as Valentino red. From the very beginning, the colour was woven into the house’s identity, debuting in the designer’s first-ever collection for Spring/Summer 1959 in a design called Fiesta. Vivid, romantic, and unapologetically powerful, the shade would go on to become Valentino’s most enduring symbol — one so distinctive it later received its own official Pantone designation.

As a teenager, Valentino Garavani said to have been mesmerised during a night at the opera, watching a production of Carmen in which the performers were dressed almost entirely in red. The memory stayed with him, shaping a visual language that would come to define decades of couture.

Over the years, Valentino red has appeared on countless red carpets and global stages, worn by the likes of Jennifer Aniston, the Valentino red became an emotion: confidence, romance, and unmistakable presence, distilled into fabric.

When Icons became Valentino muses on the runway

Throughout the house’s history, Valentino Garavani frequently invited cultural icons to step into his world, transforming his couture shows into moments of true spectacle. In January 1981, a then-teenage Brooke Shields walked the runway at Valentino’s haute couture show in Rome, closing the presentation in a ruffled pink gown beside the designer himself — a striking intersection of cinema, celebrity, and couture.

More than a decade later, Christy Turlington took to the runway for Valentino’s Spring/Summer 1993 haute couture show, embodying the refined sensuality and sculptural elegance that defined the maison in the 1990s. These appearances were never gimmicks; they reflected Valentino’s instinct for aligning his creations with women who shaped beauty ideals of their time.

The Collection that Broke the Internet

Arguably Pierpaolo Piccioli’s most defining moment at Valentino came with the Autumn/Winter 2022 ready-to-wear collection — a show that transformed Paris Fashion Week, and every social feed that followed, into a sea of pink. Guests arrived to a fully saturated hot-pink runway, walls, and seating, setting the stage for a collection that was itself almost entirely rendered in the same electrifying shade.

Created in close collaboration with Pantone, the hue was officially named Pink PP, quickly becoming one of the most recognisable fashion colours of the decade. What followed was instant cultural saturation: the looks flooded red carpets, editorials, and street style, worn by the likes of Zendaya and Florence Pugh, and embraced by a new generation of Valentino devotees.

Valentino on Screen 

In 2006, Valentino Garavani made a memorable cameo as himself in the blockbuster The Devil Wears Prada, appearing backstage with Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly at a recreated fashion week show — a delightful intersection of real couture legend and Hollywood fiction that introduced him to broader audiences outside the fashion world.

His life and career were also chronicled in the acclaimed documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008), which offered unprecedented access into his creative world and partnership with Giancarlo Giammetti.

Beyond cameos, Valentino’s creations have become part of the visual language of some of the most stylish screen moments of recent years. His couture and ready-to-wear pieces have featured prominently in influential TV shows such as Sex and the City, And Just Like That where Carrie Bradshaw wears a jaw-dropping orange Valentino gown and Emily in Paris, where signature Valentino looks and accessories help define character style and storylines.

Alessandro Michele’s Valentino

In 2024, Valentino entered a new creative era with the appointment of Alessandro Michele as Creative Director — a move that signalled a bold shift in visual language and cultural direction for the house. Known for reshaping Gucci with his maximalist, romantic, and historically layered aesthetic, Michele’s arrival at Valentino was met with global anticipation.

Rather than waiting for a traditional runway debut, Michele surprised the industry by releasing his first collection digitally on the final day of Milan Men’s Fashion Week. Titled Avant les Débuts — “before the beginnings” — the Pre-Spring 2025 collection was nothing short of monumental, comprising 171 looks across ready-to-wear, accessories, and jewellery.

The collection introduced Michele’s Valentino through an opulent, eclectic lens. It established the emotional and aesthetic codes of his vision before he ever staged a runway show.

The Valentino “V” and the Rockstud legacy

While Rockstuds were introduced later (2010, under Chiuri & Piccioli), they are rooted in Valentino’s obsession with Roman architecture and embellishment — motifs Valentino himself constantly referenced in couture. The studded accessories became one of the most commercially successful luxury codes of the 21st century, redefining Valentino’s accessories identity and turning the house into a global powerhouse beyond couture.

 Valentino Garavani’s Farewell Couture Show

After nearly five decades at the helm of his maison, Valentino Garavani closed one of fashion’s most illustrious chapters with his final couture show in Paris in July 2008. Held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the presentation was less a runway and more a living tribute to the art of haute couture — an intimate, jewel-toned celebration of a lifetime of elegance, romance, and impeccable craftsmanship.

Models glided down the runway in exquisitely hand-embroidered gowns, delicate silk tulle, and signature Valentino silhouettes, while the front row was filled with celebrities, royals, and longtime collaborators who had been part of his world for decades. The moment and the the atmosphere was so iconic it received a standing ovation that bridged generations of fashion devotees, a quiet pause for reflection, and a collective acknowledgment of Valentino’s unparalleled contribution to style.

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Images & Feature Image: Supplied