“The first time I met Valentino,” Rupert Everett once recalled, “it was impossible not to feel that you had stepped into a different rhythm of life — one shaped by elegance, precision, and an almost old-world courtesy.”
Valentino did not rush. He did not perform. He simply was. That quiet authority, that devotion to beauty without noise, is what the world mourns now with the passing of Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, known mononymously as Valentino, who died on January 19, 2026, in Rome, at the age of 93.
Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino’s foundation, confirmed his death via a message on the official media release.
“Our founder, Valentino Garavani, passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones,” stated the foundation.
The statement says, “The lying in state will be held at PM23 in Piazza Mignanelli 23 on Wednesday January 21st and Thursday January 22nd, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. The funeral will take place on Friday, January 23rd at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, in Piazza della Repubblica 8 in Rome, at 11 am.”
From Valentino’s 2007 Collection: White Dress, Ara Pacis Augustae Source[ ] |Annalisa Califano
“He was a true master of his craft, and I will always be grateful for the years I had the privilege of working closely with him.”
— Cindy Crawford
For nearly five decades, until his retirement in 2007, Valentino served as the house’s creative director, dressing queens, actresses, socialites, and women who simply wanted to feel extraordinary. Yet those who knew him — truly knew him — speak less about the gowns than about the man behind them. They remember his warmth, his humor, his kindness in fittings and interviews, his devotion to beauty not as excess, but as respect.
Even his beloved dogs were part of the scene, often at his side, reminding visitors that tenderness and discipline could coexist.
“Today, we lost a true maestro who will forever be remembered for his art. My thoughts go to Giancarlo, who never left his side for all these years. He will never be forgotten.”
— Donatella Versace
Actors like Everett, photographers like Nigel Barker, editors, muses, and models all tell variations of the same story: meeting Valentino felt like being welcomed into a private world where taste mattered, manners mattered, and where beauty was never rushed. He carried himself with the assurance of someone who understood that elegance is as much about how you treat people as what you create for them.
“Italy loses a successful designer, capable of looking beyond trends and conventions.”
— Italian President Sergio Mattarella
Valentino shared his life for many years with his partner, Bruce Hoeksema, and remained deeply connected to his family, including his sister Wanda Garavani. Though his public life unfolded on the grandest stages of fashion — Rome, Paris, New York — his private joys were quieter: gardens, conversations, laughter, memory.
“I was so lucky to know and love Valentino — to know the real man, in private. The man who was in love with beauty, his family, his muses, his friends. His dogs, his gardens, and a good Hollywood story… I loved his naughty laugh. This feels like the end of an era. He will be deeply missed by me and all who loved him. Rest in peace, Vava.”
— Gwyneth Paltrow
In an era increasingly defined by speed, spectacle, and disposability, Valentino stood for permanence. He believed that clothes could endure, that craftsmanship could speak softly yet powerfully, and that style was not about novelty, but about grace. His work reminded the world that fashion, at its highest level, is not about trends but about human aspiration.
“Valentino Garavani was not only an undisputed protagonist of fashion, but a central figure in Italian cultural history. He leaves us all a profound legacy: the idea that creating means caring, that beauty is radical and patient attention to bodies, to forms, to the time that passes through and preserves them.”
— Alessandro Michele
With his passing, an era truly closes. But Valentino’s legacy lives on — in the silhouettes that still influence designers, in the color red that will forever bear his name, and in the countless lives he touched through beauty done well and done kindly.
Valentino did not simply dress the world.
He taught it how to stand a little taller.
Feature image courtesy of Valentino’s House of Couture
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