Who started it?
Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was born in Voghara, Italy, in 1932. The son of an electrical appliance store owner, he became interested in fashion as a teenager, and was apprenticed to his uncle and a local designer.
At the age of 17 Valentino, as he became known, moved to Paris, where he attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts and Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, followed by stints at couturiers Jean Desses and Guy Laroche. In 1959, he returned to Italy to open his own atelier on Rome's Via Condotti. In 1960, he met Giancarlo Giammetti, who would become his lifelong business partner and friend.
Garavani made his international debut in Florence in 1962. He was soon flooded with orders from foreign buyers and socialites, and moved his show to Rome two years later.
In 1967, his all-white collection won the Neiman Marcus Prize for fashion. Fans included Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Margaret.
Valentino created his V logo in 1969 and during the 70s spent much of his time in New York, where he hobnobbed with the likes of Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland and Andy Warhol. In the 70s and 80s, he became one of the first Italian designers to include ready-to-wear for men, women and children along with haute couture.
