Valentino Garavani laid to rest in Rome as fashion world mourns

Valentino Garavani Funeral Draws Fashion Elite to Rome Ceremony

Rome’s Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, a 16th-century church designed by Michelangelo, filled with fashion luminaries and Hollywood figures on Friday as the industry bid farewell to Valentino Garavani, the legendary Italian designer who died Monday at age 93.apnews

The ceremony capped several days of mourning for the couturier who became synonymous with Italian glamour. Approximately 10,000 people had queued at PM23, the arts and culture exhibition space opened by the Valentino foundation in 2025, where the designer lay in state Wednesday and Thursday.yahoo

A Gathering of Fashion’s Elite

Anna Wintour arrived in a fur stole and her signature layers of colorful jewel necklaces. Anne Hathaway, who appeared in “The Devil Wears Prada” and for whom Valentino designed her wedding gown, called him “a titan who made my world brighter”. Elizabeth Hurley attended with her son Damian, honoring a friendship that transcended the typical designer-muse relationship.mirror

Alessandro Michele, Valentino’s current creative director, arrived wearing dark sunglasses, while his predecessor Pierpaolo Piccioli, who led the house from 2008 to 2024, entered alongside Kering chairman François-Henri Pinault. Also present were American designer Tom Ford, Fendi designer Maria Grazia Chiuri—herself a former Valentino creative director before moving to Dior—and longtime British fashion journalist Suzy Menkes.cnn

A City Mourns in Red

Outside the basilica, members of the public lined up dressed in red or carrying red accessories—bags, purses, scarves—as tribute to the designer’s iconic crimson hue known as “Valentino red”. One mourner waved a glittering black poster that read: “Goodbye Valentino. The last emperor of fashion”.cnn

Throughout the morning, a steady stream of white flower wreaths was carried into the church. Even the Carabinieri guards wore capes designed by Giorgio Armani.ktvz

An Enduring Legacy

Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri called Valentino “one of Italy’s most radiant and cherished figures,” emphasizing his deep connection to the city where he founded his fashion house in 1959. Throughout his nearly five-decade career, Valentino dressed generations of royalty, first ladies, and film stars including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Julia Roberts, Queen Rania of Jordan, and Elizabeth Taylor.abc7chicago

According to The Telegraph, the designer will be cremated, with his remains transferred to a personal chapel bordered by cypress trees in Rome’s Flaminio Cemetery.telegraph