Italian fashion designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, 93, died in Rome on Jan. 19. Known for his elegant (if sometimes glitzy) gowns, he was named after Rudolph Valentino, and started his career as a sketch artist and designer for several houses. He opened his own house in 1959, and dressed such fashion icons as Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Vreeland, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jacqueline de Ribes, and Babe Paley. He and his partner (business and romantic) Giancarlo Giammetti ran the House of Valentino till it was sold off in 1998. He appeared as himself in the films The Devil Wears Prada and Zoolander 2, and designed costumes for Night Watch, La Traviata, and Cover-Up, as well as for singer Katy Perry’s 2015 tour. Valentino recently said, “I did a very important collection in 1968 and I realized that I was quite good. All the magazines and everybody came to visit me. I became quite well known for my glamour and my femininity and women started to love my clothes . . . If I like it, then movie stars and the ladies around me are also very fond of it.”
