(1932–2026)
Valentino Garavani passed away on January 19, 2026, at the age of 93, in Rome. He died at his residence, surrounded by loved ones. With his passing, fashion loses one of its most enduring figures, a designer who shaped elegance for more than half a century and gave Italian couture a singular, global voice.
Founded in Rome in 1960, the House of Valentino became synonymous with refinement, discipline, and beauty. Garavani’s work never relied on provocation or noise. Instead, it spoke through proportion, fabric, and a deep respect for craft. His gowns carried a quiet authority, precise in construction and generous in emotion. Few designers understood how to balance restraint and romance as he did.
Valentino dressed generations of women, from royalty and cinema icons to private clients who valued discretion over spectacle. His signature red, later known simply as “Valentino Red,” became more than a color. It became a language of confidence and grace, instantly recognizable yet never overstated.
Beyond aesthetics, Garavani represented a way of working that is increasingly rare. He believed in patience, in ateliers, and in the slow mastery of technique. Even as fashion accelerated, he remained committed to couture as a living art, grounded in the hands that make it.
He stepped away from the runway in 2008, but his influence never left. The house continued, yet the foundation remained his. Precision. Permanence. Beauty without apology.
Rome was always his anchor. It shaped his eye and his rhythm. That he passed there feels fitting. Valentino Garavani did not just design clothes. He defined a standard of elegance that outlives seasons, trends, and time.
His legacy endures in every garment that values craft over urgency, and in every designer who understands that true luxury speaks softly, but lasts.
