Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani, founder of the Valentino fashion house, has died at the age of 93, Reuters reported on Monday.
The cause of Garavani's death has not been disclosed. Sources report that he died at his home in Rome, surrounded by loved ones. Funeral services are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, and the funeral will take place in Rome on Friday.
Valentino Garavani founded his eponymous fashion house in 1960. The designer believed his primary mission was to enhance a woman's beauty. "A woman should feel as if she is radiant," he said.
Valentino's collections enjoyed immense popularity. Among his creations were the wedding dress for Jacqueline Kennedy for her second husband, businessman and shipowner Aristotle Onassis; the dress worn by Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran as she fled the country during the 1979 Islamic Revolution; and the dress worn by French First Lady Bernadette Chirac for the inauguration of her husband, Jacques Chirac, in 1995.
Valentino Garavani presented his final collection in 2008. That same year, the documentary film "Valentino: The Last Emperor" was released. Since then, the designer has often been referred to as "The Last Emperor" in the media.





































