The late couturier was introduced to Palm Beach by legendary boutique owner Martha Phillips of Martha Inc.
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- The famed Italian couturier Valentino Garavani died Jan. 17 at age 93 in his Rome home.
- Valentino’s career began after he met his life and business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, and launched a line of silk blouses.
- He developed a loyal following, including celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
- His designs have long been favored by many residents of Palm Beach, where a Valentino boutique has for years been a fixture on Worth Avenue.
- The designer sold his company in 2008 after a career that spanned seven decades.
Valentino, among the last of the couture designers, is lying in state in Rome, awaiting his Jan. 23 funeral at Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.
The couturier, erstwhile singer, actor and ballerino, died peacefully at age 93 at his home in Rome Jan. 19, surrounded by his loved ones.
The designer and Palm Beach had a long history, thanks to the legendary Martha boutique and salon, which operated for years on Worth Avenue.
Born May 11, 1932 in Voghera, near Milan, Valentino Garavani was the son to of Mauro, a barber turned wholeslaer, and Teresa, a homemaker.
Keenly interested in art and design by the age of 7, he was helped by his loving parents, who supported ― financially and emotionally ― his dreams.
At 17, he moved to Paris to study at the esteemed École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne.
After apprenticing at many top-end ateliers, Valentino returned to Italy, where he met architecture student Giancarlo Giammetti, who would become his business and life partner. Together they launched a business designing and selling shirts.
It was those shirts that would bring him to Martha Phillips and Palm Beach.
“It all began in the late ’60s on the island of Capri when Martha Phillips and her daughter, Lynn Manulis, first spotted Valentino and Giancarlo showing silk blouses with that iconic V,” said Andrew Burnstine, son of Manulis and grandson of Phillips. “Martha and Lynn met them, and it was love at first sight. They placed an order for their Palm Beach and New York salons, and the pieces sold out in two days. Customers were practically fighting over them, ordering three and four apiece.”
By the 1970s, Martha , who, according to Burnstine, “was truly a second mother to those two young men,” opened the first Valentino boutique in Palm Beach. “Valentino himself came for the opening, and we held a fashion show for charity that set the tone for everything to come. It was the only place to find his complete collection and every accessory,” Burnstine said.
“Whenever we traveled to Rome, Paris or Milan, Valentino rolled out the red carpet. There were always flowers, a personal note and a car waiting to take us to dinner at his villa. But the most personal moments happened in the showroom. The Last Emperor would sit with us, usually with two or three of his pugs at his feet. They were so well behaved, and a big part of the venue,” Burnstine recalled.
“Valentino would always ask Martha and Lynn which pieces they found most interesting before setting up his personal appearances in New York and Palm Beach. Martha was the only one who could talk to him the way she did. She would look at a piece and say, ‘Valentino, I don’t especially like that suit like that! You need to make it for me exclusively in another color and with gold buttons!’ And his unique reply (was) ‘Yes, Martha, only for you!'”
Valentino ― or “VaVa,” as he was known to his friends ― developed a loyal clientele. His famous clients included Elizabeth Taylor, Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham and Julia Roberts.
His Palm Beach customers included Nicola Peltz Beckham, for whom he designed her wedding dress, Arlette Gordon, Terri Mendoza , Lois Pope and Dorothy Kohl, who owned the Valentino boutique on Worth Avenue for nearly a decade.
“My mom went to Paris on buying trips twice a year,” said Kohl’s daughter Lori Gendelman. “I would go with her to pick up a few special things. I still have so many of those things. The quality and workmanship were the finest. He was up there with the best — Chanel, Dior, Lagerfeld. There was nobody like him. After he stopped designing, that signature quality was gone. “
Upon hearing of the designer’s death, Gendelman paid a personal homage to him. She was headed out to the newly opened restaurant Tutto Mare in Palm Beach.
“I was going to Tutto Mare with some friends and it was chilly, so I dug into my closet and pulled out a Valentino jacket. I thought about him all night, snuggled up in that jacket.”
Pope described herself as “a devoted admirer of Valentino for many years.”
She added: “His taste was impeccable, and his designs always struck the rare balance of elegance, comfort, and timeless style. Wearing Valentino never felt like following fashion — it felt like embodying it.”
Valentino’s design career spanned seven decades.
Valentino sold the business in 2008, and it is now owned by a Qatar-based corporation. The boutique that bears his name continues as a staple on Worth Avenue.
Shannon Donnelly is the society editor of the Palm Beach Daily News. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
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