WHEN IN PARIS, there are some things a fashion fan simply must do. Sample the rose-petal flavoured macaroons at Laduree, sip kir royales in the Hemingway bar of the Ritz and enter the hallowed halls of Chanel and Dior. Eclipsing all of these, however, is the opportunity to watch a haute-couture fitting, with all the theatre, frivolity and downright diamonds-in-the-morning decadence that such an event entails. And where better to do it than at Valentino, where the elder statesman of fashion - and an Italian at that - has been ruling the world of French couture for more than 40 years?
'Movement! Movement! Movement!' declares Valentino as he briskly inspects the fine-tunings of his couture collection in the sweltering July heat of his Place Vendome headquarters. Movement, it seems, is the modus operandi in la maison Valentino. Lighting technicians, drenched in sweat, bolt to and fro, chic PR girls teeter past as fast as their perilous heels will allow and the nimble fingers of seamstresses work their magic quickly and efficiently over a series of delectable flights of fancy, created with the finest fabrics and embedded with precious jewels. The resident fitting model, Agnes Zogla, is the only one who isn't moving, standing like a statue for hours as fantastical dress after fantastical dress is subtly reworked, nipped and tucked around her.
Finally, Mr Valentino, as his staff refer to him, stops moving. In a cavernous room decorated like the inside of a Faberge egg, at the end of a mock catwalk, there are two seats. One is for Valentino, the other for Giancarlo Giammetti, his business partner of 40 years. Like a monarchical couple receiving courtiers, they greet each ensemble with a flurry of rapid-fire Italian, Valentino issuing instructions to the models. The catwalk debut is tomorrow, but Valentino, 74, is a picture of composure. 'I still get nervous.
That's part of the fun,' he says. 'But the collection is there, it's ready. I put all my passion, my strength and all my joy into this.'
After almost half a century as a designer, Valentino is as enthusiastic as when he first began in 1959. He moved to Paris, aged 17, from a small town in the north of Italy and worked for couturiers Jean Desses and Guy Laroche. 'I think it's because I love my work very, very much. I think I stay relevant with the help of my young actress friends,' he says.
'And I always want to move on to something else. To me this collection is old, I'm already on to the ready-to-wear for October.'