Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, best known as Valentino (born 11 May 1932) is an Italian fashion designer and founder

of the Valentino SpA brand and company. His fashion house is among the world's most famous haute couture and ready-to-wear fashion empires.
Valentino became interested in men and women's fashion while in primary school in his native Voghera, Lombardy, northern Italy, when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini. At 17, Valentino moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani.

His first choice in Paris was Jacques Fath, then Balenciaga. He then found apprentice jobs with Jean Desses where he used to help style icon countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche for 2 years. At Desses, Valentino sketched furiously, between helping with window dressing and greeting clients for the daily 2:30 p.m. private showings. Most of his early sketches were lost. At a Rome exhibition in 1991 a smattering went on display and current clients at that time such as Marie Hlne de Rothschild and Elizabeth Taylor marveled that the DNA of Valentino's style was already apparent in the layers of white pleats and animal prints.

In 1959 Valentino left Paris and moved back to Italy with his lover, French socialite Gerald Nanty and opened a fashion house in Rome on the posh Via Condotti with the backing of his father and an associate of his. More than an atelier, the premises resembled a real "maison de couture", being it very much on the line of what Valentino had seen in Paris: everything was very grand and models flew in from Paris for his first show. Valentino became known for his red dresses, in the bright shade that became known in the fashion industry as "Valentino red".
Valentino's international debut took place in 1962 in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. His 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. In 1966, confident of his client base, he moved his shows 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.

Remarkably, his spring collection made some of the lifelong themes of his work delicate dresses, lace, bows, and, of course, the color redseem quite beautifully relevant at a time when so many edgier upstarts are stabbing around the territory.

A tribute, in many ways, to all of his faithful clients, followers and staff from over the decades, Valentino draws upon the themes and motifs which he pioneered and perfected over almost a half-century at the leading edge of fashion. This collection is marked by the bows to the historical past. However, its over-arching theme is the perpetual belief in the modes and methods of Haute Couture as an important living art. In homage to his formative years in the Paris house of Jean Desses, Valentino brings to the fore the classical drape that inspired him at the beginning of his career, and has, over time, become known as the Valentino drape. Very big evening gown shapes from his earliest dream sketches appear, as well as other forms and fabrics from numerous landmark collections.

The fashion of Valentino takes the form of a dream that emits beauty and style. It's an aesthetic transfer of idealized perfection that, once touched by real people and the surrounding world, comes to life with feeling and emotion. It's a dream that over the last 40 years has scattered and spread amongst millions of clients-women who are captivated by the eternal romanticism of Valentino.

Valentino Fall/Winter 2008-2009 collection is the first under the creative direction of Alessandra Facchinetti. The collection is sophisticated and elegant, rich in couture detail, romantic and contemporary.
Alessandra Facchinetti has developed long and significant professional experiences with important fashion brands.

Though the collection is a little different from the general Valentino style clothes designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli are purely feminine and sensual, the way they have always been created by the brand.

VALENTINO designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli received a standing ovation from the founder of the house.

The feel of the show was soft and full of nudes but the fabrics had such depth and were so feminine that it was still rich with Valentino spirit. Each piece of lace was expertly placed to add just the right amount of volume to the look without loosing the slim to the frame silhouette. Tall boots were worn that worked well with the knee-high hemlines.

Valentino is synonymous with opulence, extravagance, and drama. In business since 1960, Valentino Garavani made his mark early with intricately detailed, luxurious gowns and tastefully body-conscious silhouetteseven perfecting his own shade of Valentino Red. The year 1968 introduced the groundbreaking White collection as well as the nowiconic V label.
Valentino's trademark red colour, known as rosso Valentino, is a combination of 100% magenta, 100% yellow and 10% black (CMYK color model).

Valentinos style, since the moment he began designing, has always been beautiful. His tasteful designs are complementary to all body types even though Valentino has always used super-thin models to show off his designs in his ad campaigns. Elegance is an important part of a womans sensuality which is why Valentino chooses to use sultry fabrics like delicate laces, rich chiffons and smooth silk and satins. Ultra-feminine, classy and sophisticated are often words used to describe Valentinos inimitable style. In all his years of designing, he is one of the few designers who have consistently maintained the same image.