“Italy loses a legend”: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni pays tribute to Valentino Garavani

Italy woke up to heavy news this week, and so did anyone who has ever loved fashion. Valentino Garavani is gone. He passed away on Monday at 93, and it doesn’t feel like just another headline. It feels like the end of something rare and beautiful. Like a curtain quietly falling on a golden age.The Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation confirmed that the designer died peacefully at his home in Rome, surrounded by loved ones. For the world, Valentino was a legend. For fashion, he was fashion - refined, dramatic, romantic, and unforgettable. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni paid tribute soon after the news broke, calling Valentino an unmatched master of elegance and a timeless symbol of Italian high fashion. Italy, she said, has lost a giant, but his influence will live on. And honestly, that feels true no matter where you’re from. Paris, New York, Mumbai, everyone felt this one.As news spread, tributes flooded in from across the globe. One of the most touching came from Gwyneth Paltrow, a long-time muse and close friend. She shared a photo of herself kissing Valentino on the cheek and wrote about the man behind the couture - someone who adored beauty in all its forms. Dogs, gardens, family, friends, and a really good dinner conversation.She remembered his playful side too - how he’d gently scold her for showing up without mascara, his cheeky laugh, his warmth. “This feels like the end of an era,” she wrote. It’s hard to argue with that.In India, Sonam Kapoor summed it up simply and powerfully: “The last of the titans.”Valentino was born in 1932 in Voghera, a quiet town in northern Italy. Big dreams, small beginnings. As a teenager, he moved to Paris to study fashion, training at the legendary Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and working alongside icons like Balenciaga and Jean Dessès.But Rome is where his heart, and his empire, truly lived. In 1959, he launched his fashion house there, and nothing was ever the same again. Luxury took on a new meaning. Glamour became softer, richer, more emotional. And then came that red.Inspired by a trip to Spain, Valentino created a deep, passionate shade that would become forever linked to his name. “Valentino red” wasn’t just a colour. It was a mood. A statement. A signature.Valentino didn’t just dress celebrities, he dressed moments. One of his earliest admirers was Elizabeth Taylor, whom he met in Rome while she was filming Cleopatra. From there, his client list grew into a who’s who of elegance and influence: Audrey Hepburn, Jacqueline Kennedy, Queen Paola of Belgium, Begum Aga Khan, and many others.One moment stands above the rest. In 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy chose Valentino to design her wedding dress for her marriage to Aristotle Onassis. That single gown cemented his place not just in fashion, but in cultural history.Valentino will lie in state at Piazza Mignanelli on January 21 and 22. His funeral will be held on January 23 at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome - a fitting farewell in a city he loved deeply.Valentino didn’t chase trends. He created timelessness. He believed in beauty without apology, elegance without noise, and clothes that made people feel extraordinary.The man may be gone, but his work? That will keep walking - down runways, through archives, and straight into fashion history - always in red.