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Our modern age’s legions of sneakerheads might have trouble tracking down a pair of black-and-gold vintage Jordans but can at least fill their dream closets with original Adidas Gazelles or 1980s New Balances if they put the time in, while 1990s-era Prada pumps or a good pair of mid-20th-century jewel-tone heels in satin or silk haven’t lost their allure with today’s nostalgic fashionistas.Ī pair of shoes can commemorate an achievement, mark an important trip overseas and is sometimes a rich manifestation of a hard-won physical feat. What good is fashion if it’s tucked away? The decorative floor-length gowns that upper-class women of the 18th century wore meant that their shoes, then likely featuring high curved heels finished with woven or embroidered silks - a sharp contrast to the heavy, rudimentary form of the era’s footwear for men - were partially or entirely obscured by the base of their ornate dresses. Today, vintage and designer shoes by the likes of Chanel, Gucci or Versace are integral to completing your carefully orchestrated street-style or evening ensemble, but footwear wasn’t always the big deal it is for your average Adidas Yeezy enthusiast. The house has expanded far beyond women’s haute couture and prêt-à-porter to encompass various lines of accessories, including shoes, sunglasses, scarves and perfume.įind vintage Valentino evening dresses, handbags and other items on 1stDibs now. Today, the brand offers a range of collections that include the Valentino Garavani line and REDValentino, a diffusion line that is aimed at a younger audience. But Valentino still steps out of retirement for special occasions, such as designing a wedding gown for Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.

Valentino retired from his fashion empire in 2007, with Alessandra Facchinetti and then the duo Maria Grazia Chiuri (who departed in 2016) and Pierpaolo Piccioli succeeding him as creative directors. (The collection also debuted his trademark “V.”) The white dresses and beige dresses led to a demand for Valentino wedding gowns, with clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez and Anne Hathaway. Luxurious drapery with fine needlework, bold uses of color and dramatic flourishes would define Valentino fashion across the decades.Īs a fashion house, Valentino is best known for its signature Valentino Red color, though one of its iconic lines is the monochromatic “no colour” collection for which the designer won the Neiman Marcus Award in 1967. He formed an especially close friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for whom he designed numerous dresses. When the designer launched his first couture line in 1962 with its fiery red colors, it was internationally celebrated, with Valentino soon attiring fashion trendsetters including Princess Margaret and Audrey Hepburn. One of his earliest clients was Elizabeth Taylor, who discovered Valentino while she was in Rome filming Cleopatra and ordered the white dress that she wore to the premiere of Spartacus. It was located on Rome’s trendy Via Condotti and modeled after the French maisons.

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In 1959, Valentino returned to Italy, and a year later, he opened his own salon, soon joining with longtime professional and personal partner Giancarlo Giammetti.

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Valentino spent time apprenticing under haute couturiers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, learning how to design and construct high fashion while also thinking about how to strike out on his own. While a teenager in Voghera, Lombardy, he studied under Italian designer Ernestina Salvadeo and soon moved to Paris, where he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. They sought out Valentino for gorgeous gowns, jackets, elegant daytime wear and even when they needed wedding dresses.Īn early fascination with fashion developed when Valentino attended the theater as a child and was dazzled by the evening gowns on stage.

Beautiful Valentino dresses, skirts and other apparel captured the hearts of many of Italy’s wealthiest ladies in the couturier’s early days and led to commissions from Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Jayne Wrightsman and others on the international best-dressed list (when it still meant something). 1932) is renowned for his fashion house of romantic styles and feminine shapes that he founded in Rome in 1960. The mononymously known Italian designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (b.