DUBAI: Models, celebrities and designers have paid tribute to Valentino Garavani, who died earlier this week at the age of 93.
The Italian designer, known for his high-glamour gowns and his signature shade of red, was a fashion show mainstay for nearly half a century.
Instagram/ @monatougaard
Among those honoring him was model Mona Tougaard, who walked in his 2024 show. The Danish model, who has Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian heritage, shared the news on Instagram with a broken-heart emoji.
Dubai-based Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan also paid tribute by resharing a photo of herself with Garavani from a fan account, adding a broken-heart emoji and a bird emoji.
Instagram/ @lindsaylohan
Lebanese designer Nicolas Jebran shared an image of the designer on his Instagram story, joining the wave of tributes from across the fashion world.
Known universally by his first name, Valentino was adored by generations of royals, first ladies and movie stars, from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Julia Roberts and Queen Rania of Jordan, who all swore the designer always made them look and feel their best.
Though Italian-born and despite maintaining his atelier in Rome, he mostly unveiled his collections in Paris.
Alessandro Michele, the current creative director of the Valentino fashion house, wrote on Instagram that he continues to feel Valentino’s “gaze” as he works on the next collection, which will be presented in Rome on March 12.
Valentino was born into a wealthy family in the northern Italian town of Voghera on May 11, 1932. He said it was his childhood love of cinema that set him down the fashion path.
“I was crazy for silver screen, I was crazy for beauty, to see all those movie stars being sensation, well dressed, being always perfect,” he said in a 2007 television interview.
After studying fashion in Milan and Paris, he spent much of the 1950s working for established Paris-based designer Jean Desses and later Guy Laroche before striking out on his own. He founded the house of Valentino on Rome’s Via Condotti in 1959.
Early fans included Italian screen sirens Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren, as well as Hollywood stars Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.
Over the years, Valentino’s empire expanded as the designer added ready-to-wear, menswear and accessories lines.
