*Birth Name: Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani
*Born on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, Italy, of Italian descent
*Founder of Valentino SpA
*Designer lines include: Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma and R.E.D. Valentino
*Studied went to school for fashion in Italy
*Worked alongside his aunt Rosa and a local designer, Ernestina Salvado in Paris
*Got an apprenticeship to work with a world known fashion designer, Jean Dresses in 1950
*In 1959 opened a posh style fashion house in Rome with the help of his father and another associate
*In 1960 met Giancarlo Giammetti, an architect major, became friends and then partners in business
*1962 had an international debut in Florence, Italy and got a lot of attention
– was considered to be the “maestro” of Italian Couture
*By 1970 opens first ready-to-wear shop in Milan and Rome
*1983-1985 Ford Motor Company partnered with Valentino to create unique color combos for their continental sedan
*1986 receives the highest reward from the president of Italy called The Cavaliere di Gran Croce
*In 1991, created L.I.F.E. an association that works to fight against AIDS
*1998 Sold his company for $300 million to HdP, an Italian company
*2002 HdP sells the company to Marzotto Apparel, a textile company for $210 million
*In 2008 retired after his last show in Paris
*In 2011 The Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum came out
-A downloadable desktop app that digitally displays all of Valentino’s designs over 50 years
*2012 Valentino: Master of Couture exhibition was created to celebrate the life and work of Valentino in London
Fun Fact:
*Once named a clothing line after his dog Oliver
www.wikipedia.org; biography.com