Italian haute couture 'emperor' dies at 93

A mix of carmine and scarlet, with a hint of orange — a new hue, inspired by an elderly woman at Barcelona's opera house, whose elegance struck a young Valentino Garavani.

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The colour, introduced to the fashion world several years later, in 1959, with a strapless cocktail dress of draped tulle, has carried his name — “Valentino red” — ever since, doubling as the eponymous Italian fashion group’s signature.

“I think a woman dressed in red is always wonderful, she is the perfect image of a heroine,” Valentino wrote in the book Rosso (Red), released in 2022. He would include at least one red dress in every one of his collections.

Valentino, the Italian fashion designer who built one of the country's most celebrated luxury houses and was known in the industry as “the emperor”, died on Monday at his home in Rome, his foundation said. He was 93.

The cause of death was not immediately known.