Valentino in pictures

The fashion designer Valentino, whose trademark lipstick red gowns have been worn by the world’s most beautiful women since he dressed Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s, has announced his retirement.

In a statement yesterday, Valentino Garavani said that after 45 years as head of the fashion group that bears his name it was time to stop designing clothes. He said that he would show his ready-to-wear collection in Paris in October as scheduled, but would step down as chief designer after his haute couture collection in January.

“I have decided that this is the perfect moment to say ‘addio’ to the fashion world,” he said.

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At 75, Valentino is one of a handful of designers who sat atop the empires they created in their youth

Lisa Armstrong

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The announcement came only a month after Valentino held three days of extravagant parties, exhibitions and fashion shows in Rome to celebrate his 45th anniversary, while denying that they were the prelude to retirement.

Now 75, he has long hinted that he might resign to make way for a younger designer. Names bandied about as potential successors include Alessandra Fachinetti, the former designer for Gucci.

Only last month Valentino said that he would step down “when I am ready” and insisted that he had no “immediate plans” to quit.

But last spring a private equity group bought Valentino Fashion Group, causing intense speculation about his future.

On the secret of his success, Valentino said recently: “Many women want to be extraordinary and feminine. That will never change. What I want is for a woman to walk into a room and everyone turns to look at her, I want a woman to be noticed and always arouse admiration.”

At his anniversary celebrations fellow designers such as Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford paid tribute, along with stars of film and rock, such as Uma Thurman and Sir Mick Jagger. Thurman said that she loved Valentino because “his dresses are so elegant and feminine. They are a pleasure and a privilege to wear.”

At the closing anniversary show, Valentino, in tears in his white suit, was given a standing ovation to the strains of Puccini. Andre Leon Talley, editor at large of US Vogue, said: “That seemed the show of a young man with a great future ahead of him.”

Valentino said yesterday that his anniversary celebrations had been an “unrepeatable magic moment”. His future was “full of new ventures and interests” linked to fashion.

He said that he would support “institutions that promote the study of design and the art of fashion”. Although he realised that the fashion house that bears his name would change, he added: “I hope the creative team which will design the various lines, of which some of my assistants form part, will continue my work in a manner of which I can be proud.”

The succession race

Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez

McCollough and Hernandez, both 28, founded their own Proenza Schouler label after meeting at design school in 1999. One of the most glamorous new names in the industry

Alessandra Facchinetti

Became creative director of women’s wear at Gucci in March 2004, taking over from Tom Ford. Though her first collection was hailed as a success, she left the label after releasing her second, citing disagreements with the management

Giambattista Valli

After working for Capucci, Fendi and Krizia, was appointed head designer in 1996 for Emanuel Ungaro’s prêt-a-porter and haute couture collections

Stefano Pilati

Paris-based head designer for Yves Saint Laurent, credited widely with the label’s regeneration; steered it back on to its original, edgy course, creating a politically engaged, fashion vernacular. Also worked for Versace, Miu Miu and Valentino himself.

Sources: fashionunited.co.uk; www.target.com; i-dmagazine.com; www.showstudio.com; Times Archives

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