Valentino Garavani, the co-founder of the brand Valentino, died on Monday. He was 93.
Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti, his charitable organization founded to “support those in need and improve human welfare,” announced his passing. Valentino died at his home in home “surrounded by his loved ones.” The organization did not specify a cause of death.
Valentino will be lying in state in Rome at PM23 in Piazza Mignanelli 23 on Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Loved ones scheduled his funeral for 11 a.m. Friday at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, in Piazza della Repubblica 8 in Rome.
Valentino, with the backing of partner Giancarlo Giammetti, founded his namesake brand back in 1960, and it soon became one of the most premier brands in fashion. Per Vogue, he dressed numerous icons through the years, including Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Joan Collins and numerous others. He retired from the brand in 2008.