Originally published on March 17, 1965, this interview sheds light on the women he enjoyed dressing.
“I adore being simpatico with everybody … and I want no rancor with anybody.”
Valentino backs his words with talent — and a driving desire to get ahead.
In five years, the young, handsome Roman couturier (whose unused last name is Garavani) has come from a shaky beginning at 9 Via Condotti (some say the address is jinxed) where his early backers cast him adrift, to the crest of the Italian couture. When he had to close his first house, he swore to aim for the number-one couture spot in Italy: “I am an optimist … but also a great hardhead.”
Relaxing in his well-appointed apartment in a stylish quarter of Rome, Valentino is enthusiastic. “I love my job and I regret nothing. I would start all over again at the beginning. La Moda is my life! Viva la Moda!,” he says, smiling while he roughs the fur of his favorite dog, Sister.
“Yesterday, Marella Agnelli came to see me again and ordered 20 things. She’s a delight … the woman I prefer to dress. With that long graceful neck … and what carriage!
“And then came Brita Behn. Of the smaller-sized women she is my favorite. A delicious blonde. She selected many things, too.
“Oh Jacqueline Kennedy was enthusiastic when I presented my collection in New York … what a beautiful apartment she has. I had never even hoped she would be among my clients.
“Audrey Hepburn should be back soon.
“I could go on all day discussing my clients, but …”
On Couture and Women
“When a couturier has found his style direction, he should follow it and not try to change. He still has freedom of colors, fabrics and embroideries. Women today want to have a suit they can put on two years from now … nothing is easier to lose than a client who finds the things she buys go out of style too rapidly.
“In the first place, a woman should dress up … but she has lost the habit. Necessarily her wardrobe should not be too big. It is enough to have two good morning outfits, some three-piece ensembles and a suit of cocktail dress. Boutique articles such as sweaters and skirts I do not want to consider.”
“The things that really make a woman elegant are the accessories … many and expensive. A good suit rarely loses its fashion, but a pair of shoes or a handbag soon lose their freshness. It is things like these that must be renewed continually.
“Women of today have a duty to be soignée. They should be well made-up, absolutely wear lipstick — I detest women without lipstick — and be well coiffured, not running around with dangling straight hair as if they just finished a home shampoo.
“In this regard American women can give advice to the Italians. But, while an American woman is perfectly neat from morning to evening, she is not so soignée as Europeans and rarely combines her accessories correctly.
“Italian women are vain, but after a time they seem to get bored … and I think their attitudes today are a kind of reverse snobbery. They run around from morning to night in sweaters and skirts which, in my opinion, are for the country, never for the city.
“Among Italians, the women of Milan best respect the hour when dressing … but certainly the Romans have more individual chic!”
On Amusement
“Unfortunately I like to eat. I say unfortunately because I don’t want to get fat, and in front of a good plate of tortellini ala crema I can’t resist. I don’t like to have dinners at home, would rather go to a rustic hosteria with friends.
“I confess I am rather negative about sports. But when I feel tired or nervous I like to get behind the wheel of my new Mercedes 300 and take to the road … afterward I feel perfectly relaxed.
“In my home, I am something of a meticulous old maid … and hate disorder. Often, when I‘m in bed reading Mickey Mouse, which is my favorite reading material, I get up to make sure everything is in order in the house.”
Mixing business with pleasure, Valentino likes to travel. He is a great frequenter of St. Tropez. “In Megeve you see a sober elegance that is sportive just the same. Pants in the morning … and boots, boots, Mamma Mia!, how many boots! In the evening, I saw some marvelous at-home pants … and feminine, flowing or extremely feminine little dresses.”
“Did I dance there? Dancing is my great passion.”
Another favorite travel spot is the United States. “I like to buy things for my apartment there … for this New York is unique.”
For his own clothes, he returns to Rome, and he follows his own advice by dressing properly for the occasion and the hour.
“Pastel blue shirts up to seven, and white after.”
—ADRIANA GRASSI, Italian Bureau
Research by Tonya Blazio-Licorish
