Valentino Garavani has revealed that he has had the same ambitions throughout his 60-year career: "Excellence in my work, making women look and feel beautiful, imposing my own style and having fun with my designs."
According to the designer, his initial inspirations from the early days of his eponymous atelier have also stayed with him: "I was always inspired by seeing glamorous American movie stars in clothes by the costume designer Edith Head," he told the Telegraph. "And when I was working with Jean Desses and Guy Laroche in Paris I was influenced by French couture and the luxurious lives of French women."
But that isn’t to say it was all work and no play for the designer. As a young man living in Rome, there was plenty to keep him occupied out-of-hours. "At this time, I just wanted to have fun, drive a sports car, sunbathe at the beach, wear leather pants and dance," he said.
And it was on a fortuitous night out that he met his long-term partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. "I went to have drinks with friends and met Giancarlo Giammetti. It was Giancarlo who started to grow the business… Giancarlo decided that I should show my collections in Florence as it was a very important market. It all took off for me when the buyers of the American department stores Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus discovered me there."
Source: Vogue