Sawt Falasteen - Valentino, Italy's fashion king who pursued beauty at every turn, dies at 93

"Valentino Garavani passed away today at his Roman residence, surrounded by his loved ones," wrote his Rome-based foundation on social media.

A funeral is planned for Friday in the Italian capital, with a lying in state on Wednesday and Thursday.

Best known as just Valentino, the designer's creations -- many of them in "Valentino red" -- were worn by the who's who of the international elite, from Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Nancy Reagan to Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow in recent years.

When the empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, escaped the country during the 1979 revolution, she was wearing a coat made by Valentino.

Dubbed "the Sheik of Chic" by Women's Wear Daily in the 1980s, Valentino was celebrated by the New York Times in 1997 for his "single-minded dedication to glamour."

On the catwalk and in his own life, Valentino exuded luxury down to the last detail of his immaculate hairdo and caramel tan.

With his five pet pug dogs and a private jet, he shuttled between his Roman palace, New York apartment, chateau near Paris, chalet in Switzerland and his 50-metre (164-foot) yacht.

- Boyhood passion -

Named after the star of silent cinema Rudolph Valentino, who was known for "The Sheik" among many other films, Valentino Garavani was born on May 11, 1932 in Voghera, a small town south of Milan. His father owned an electric cables business.

As a boy he asked for made-to-measure shoes and was passionate about fashion. "I have had this illness since childhood," he told the Italian edition of Elle magazine in 2007. "I only like beautiful things."

"I do not like seeing men without ties, in a jumper, women with vulgar make-up and shapeless trousers. It is a sign of a bad education and a lack of self-respect."

He left home when he was 17 to study at prestigious arts and fashion schools in Paris, where the decadent French style of Christian Dior had revitalised a grim post-World War II fashion industry and would deeply impact Valentino's later aesthetic.

In 1952 he was hired by designer Jean Desses, who dressed wealthy clients including royalty, and five years later he went to work for Guy Laroche.

- Rome fashion empire -

In 1960 Valentino opened his own fashion house in Rome -- at the time a thriving star-studded city thanks to its vast Cinecitta film studios that acted as a branch of Hollywood.

He was assisted by his lover Giancarlo Giammetti, who had business know-how and would over the years transform the company into a global brand, shepherding it through successive buy-outs.

"Being the friend, lover and employee of Valentino for more than 45 years required a lot of patience," Giammetti said in the 2008 documentary, "Valentino: The Last Emperor".

Valentino turned heads immediately with his opening collection in 1962 in Florence, which already featured what would become his signature colour -- the deep rich "Valentino red".

- Jackie -

In his first decade Valentino dressed the likes of Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren and Liz Taylor, but it was a meeting with Jackie Kennedy in 1964 that would prove decisive.

He transformed her wardrobe, and in 1968 she picked an ivory-coloured lace dress from his famous white collection for her second marriage to Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis.

It caused a sensation in the United States, and in 1970, Valentino was the first Italian designer to open a shop in New York. Over the years he would elevate the "Made in Italy" label to global prominence.

"I love a woman who eats food, who has a body, that is a woman and not a stick," he said, quoted in The New Yorker in 2005, and underscoring his preference for sensual, figure-hugging designs.

- Emperor bows out -

For the 2006 Oscar-nominated Hollywood film "The Devil Wears Prada", starring Meryl Streep as a powerful fashion editor, Valentino made a cameo appearance at the recreation of one of his shows.

A year later and nearly a half-century after his first runway, he presented his last collection in Paris before retiring in January 2008.

"Valentino transported his audience to his world, where women in bubble gum pink cocktail dresses swing bags made of feathers and have high heels tied with satin ribbons and bows," said celebrated fashion critic Suzy Menkes in her write-up of the show in the New York Times.

In 2011 the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum opened, offering an immersive 3D experience into the history and creations of the fashion house, and giving the world its first-ever virtual fashion museum.

"At some point, you do get to the end," Valentino told The New Yorker in 2005 as he approached retirement. "And when I do, I hope I will be remembered as a man who pursued beauty whenever he could."

J.AbuShaban--SF-PST