Valentino SpA
Encyclopedia
Valentino SpA is a clothing company founded in 1959 by Valentino Garavani. Nowadays it is a part of Valentino Fashion Group
. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti
's seat as creative designer. Valentino is headquartered in Milan
.
in Rome, Italy with the backing of his father and his father's associate.
The entrepreneurial skill of Giancarlo Giammetti
, Garavani's business partner and longtime boyfriend, proved fundamental to the worldwide expansion and success of Valentino. When Giammetti arrived, Valentino was in poor financial condition: Garavani's father's associate had pulled out of the business, and the business was nearly bankrupt. Valentino already had a passion for luxury and would spend too much money on expensive fabrics never thinking about the financial aspects of his fashion business. Thanks to Giammetti, Garavani was able to focus on the creative aspect of design leaving all business intricacies to Giammetti.
Garavani and Giammetti later started a new company. Under Giammetti's wing Valentino business got under control and things were ready for international success.
and New York socialites Babe Paley
and Jayne Wrightsman
. In 1966, confident of his client base, he removed his lover's clothes from Florence to Rome and there, two years later, he had one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection, which became famous for the "V" logo he designed. By the mid-1960s he was already considered the undisputed maestro of Italian Couture, receiving in 1967 the Neiman Marcus Award, the equivalent of an Oscar in the field of fashion. Then Begum Aga Khan, Farah Diba, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
, Elizabeth Taylor
, Marella Agnelli
and Princess Margaret were already customers as well as personal friends.
Throughout the 1970s Garavani spent considerable time in New York City where his presence was embraced by social personalities such as Vogue's editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland
and art identities such as Andy Warhol
.
, an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agnelli
, the head of Fiat
. In 2002, Valentino S.p.A., with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto
Apparel, a Milan-based textile giant, for $210 million. It was rumored that HDP was displeased with Garavani's and Giammetti's personal expenses, a claim Giammetti has bristled at.
Valentino Fashion Group
The Valentino Fashion Group S.p.A is a significant Italian clothing company which operates in over 110 countries and has 1,600 single-brand boutiques and 433 directly managed shops. In 2005 Marzotto S.a.A separated their organization into two different companies, one for textiles and the other for...
. New creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli will take Alessandra Facchinetti
Alessandra Facchinetti
Alessandra Facchinetti is an Italian fashion designer. In 2007 she was appointed the creative director at the fashion House of Valentino, on the retirement of Valentino Garavani. Previously she had been a designer at the House of Gucci...
's seat as creative designer. Valentino is headquartered in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Early history
Valentino was founded in 1965 when Garavani opened a sumptuous fashion house on Via CondottiVia Condotti
Via Condotti is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels...
in Rome, Italy with the backing of his father and his father's associate.
The entrepreneurial skill of Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti
Giancarlo Giammetti is the honorary president of the Valentino Fashion House. He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 2006.- Biography :...
, Garavani's business partner and longtime boyfriend, proved fundamental to the worldwide expansion and success of Valentino. When Giammetti arrived, Valentino was in poor financial condition: Garavani's father's associate had pulled out of the business, and the business was nearly bankrupt. Valentino already had a passion for luxury and would spend too much money on expensive fabrics never thinking about the financial aspects of his fashion business. Thanks to Giammetti, Garavani was able to focus on the creative aspect of design leaving all business intricacies to Giammetti.
Garavani and Giammetti later started a new company. Under Giammetti's wing Valentino business got under control and things were ready for international success.
Rise to popularity
Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. Valentino's first show at the Pitti Palace was welcomed as a true revelation and the young couturier was submerged by orders from foreign buyers and enthusiastic comments on the press. After the breakthrough show in Florence, Garavani started to dress the ladies of the international best-dressed crowd such as his acquaintance from the Paris years Countess Jacqueline de RibesJacqueline de Ribes
Comtesse Jacqueline de Ribes is a French socialite and fashion designer. She is also a member of the International Best Dressed List since 1962.-Early life:...
and New York socialites Babe Paley
Babe Paley
Barbara "Babe" Cushing Mortimer Paley was an American socialite and style icon. She was known by the popular nickname "Babe" for most of her life. She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1958....
and Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman
Jayne Wrightsman is an American philanthropist, fine arts collector and widow of philanthropist and art collector, Charles B. Wrightsman . She was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1965.-References:...
. In 1966, confident of his client base, he removed his lover's clothes from Florence to Rome and there, two years later, he had one of his greatest triumphs, an all-white collection, which became famous for the "V" logo he designed. By the mid-1960s he was already considered the undisputed maestro of Italian Couture, receiving in 1967 the Neiman Marcus Award, the equivalent of an Oscar in the field of fashion. Then Begum Aga Khan, Farah Diba, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
, Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
, Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli
Marella Agnelli, born Princess Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto is an Italian socialite, style icon and wife of Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli...
and Princess Margaret were already customers as well as personal friends.
Throughout the 1970s Garavani spent considerable time in New York City where his presence was embraced by social personalities such as Vogue's editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland
Diana Vreeland
Diana Vreeland was a noted columnist and editor in the field of fashion. She worked for the fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Vogue and the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Born as Diana Dalziel, Vreeland was the eldest daughter of American socialite mother Emily Key Hoffman...
and art identities such as Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
.
From HDP group to Marzotto group
In 1998 Garavani and Giammetti sold the company for approximately $300 million to HdPHDP
HDP may refer to:* Harness, Dickey & Pierce , an intellectual property law firm* Hemodialysis product* HD Photo* HDP, an album of Czech hip-hop group Prago Union* High-density plasma* High-density polyethylene...
, an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agnelli
Gianni Agnelli
Giovanni Agnelli , better known as Gianni Agnelli , was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce, and 16.5% of its industrial investment in research...
, the head of Fiat
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
. In 2002, Valentino S.p.A., with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto
Marzotto
The Marzotto Group is an Italian textile manufacturer, based in Valdagno.Created in 1836 as the Lanificio Luigi Marzotto & Figli. In 2005 Marzotto Group's textile business separated from Valentino Fashion Group....
Apparel, a Milan-based textile giant, for $210 million. It was rumored that HDP was displeased with Garavani's and Giammetti's personal expenses, a claim Giammetti has bristled at.
Perfumes
- Valentino Classique for women, 1978
- Vendetta By Valentino for women, 1991
- Very Valentino for women, 1998
- Very Valentino for Men for men, 1999
- Valentino Gold for women, 2002
- V for women, 2005
- Valentino V Absolu for women, 2006
- Valentino V Ete By Valentino for women, 2006
- Rock'n'Rose for women, 2006
- V pour Homme for men, 2006
- Rock n’ Rose Couture for women, 2007
- Valentina for women, 2011.