Valentino was born in Voghera on May 11, 1932. From a young age, as he would later recount, he was drawn to beauty. One of the legendary moments in his life came as a teenager when he accompanied his family to the Barcelona Opera. Surrounded by dozens of elegant ladies dressed in red, he realised how flattering the colour was and chose it as his signature colour forever.

After studying in Milan in 1949, he moved to Paris to attend the École des Beaux-Arts at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. He was only 17. At that time, Italians were not held in high regard in France. However, he won the Woolmark Prize (the same award that launched Karl Lagerfeld’s career), began an internship with Jean Dessès, and then worked for Guy Laroche, whom he met in the atelier.

But that was not enough for him: in 1959, he returned to Italy and settled in Rome, then the cradle of Italian haute couture. Early official photos show him working on his sister’s wedding dress, while one of his first dresses was a knee-length piece covered in tulle roses that transitioned from pink to red — a decorative motif that would reappear throughout his career.

In 1960, on Via Veneto, he met Giancarlo Giammetti, an architecture student. It was love at first sight and the beginning of one of the most important, enduring, and successful partnerships in fashion: Valentino devoted himself fully to creation, while his partner, more decisively and effectively, managed the business. Together, they were unstoppable. Diana Vreeland, who shared Valentino’s love of red, dubbed them “The Boys.”

In 1962, the brand made its debut in Florence at Pitti in the Sala Bianca, but Valentino became an icon of an era in 1967 when he presented an entirely white collection.

His career soared. He dressed Elizabeth Taylor for her wedding, as well as many royals (such as Marie-Chantal), and proudly noted that six actresses have won Oscars wearing his designs: Julia Roberts (in a vintage 1992 dress), Jessica Lange, Cate Blanchett, Mercedes Ruehl, Sophia Loren, and Jessica Tandy.

In 1998, he sold his fashion house for $300 million. He and Giammetti kept their roles, as they did in 2002 when the brand joined the Marzotto group. In 2006, he was honoured with the Legion of Honour in Paris.

In 2007, he announced his retirement from public life. To say his farewell, coinciding with the 45th anniversary of his house’s founding, he chose Rome: three days of celebration, including a reception at the Colosseum, a historic exhibition at Ara Pacis, and a haute couture show that ended unexpectedly — not with red, but with a series of pink dresses.