The legendary designer Valentino Garavani passed away on January 19 at his residence in Rome, surrounded by his loved ones. He was 93. His funeral took place on January 23, at the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome, marking the end of one of the most singular and influential careers in modern fashion.

For more than six decades, his creations dressed generations of women, from royalty and Hollywood icons to socialites and collectors, guided by a devotion to beauty, refinement and an unwavering belief in glamour. Few places embraced that vision as fully as Palm Beach.  

Valentino’s elegant designs moved through the island’s social life for decades: charity galas, private dinners, and seasonal celebrations. His clothes became part of the visual language of Palm Beach itself, a place that instinctively understood what Valentino stood for. 

He also dressed Palm Beach women for some of their most important personal moments. In 1968, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wore a knee-length, high-neck Valentino dress for her wedding to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The ceremony, held on the private island of Skorpios in Greece, was one of the most photographed weddings of the 20th century, and Jackie’s choice of Valentino, elegant and understated, became a defining image of modern bridal style for a generation of women.

Jackie wore a knee-length, high-neck Valentino dress to her 1968 wedding to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. She topped her signature bouffant hairstyle with a short bow-trimmed veil.

 

More recently, Nicola Peltz wore a custom Valentino Haute Couture gown to her 2022 wedding to Brooklyn Beckham. The wedding took place at the Peltz family’s oceanfront estate in Palm Beach.

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Pelz at their Palm Beach wedding in 2022. The bride wore custom Valentino Haute Couture.

 

As the world says goodbye, we share a few words from Palm Beachers and friends on his lasting legacy and revisit some of his most defining looks on the women who made his work part of Palm Beach life.

Cornelia Guest

“Valentino was a master of elegance and beauty. His clothes were always a dream to wear. Valentino was a gentleman … smart, funny. He will be greatly missed. You always knew when you wore Valentino you’d be the best dressed person in the room!! My favorites were anything red!”

Martha Stewart, Valentino Garavani and Cornelia Guest

Audrey Gruss

Valentino understood a woman’s femininity so well and his designs were among the most feminine and romantic of his peers. He was innately elegant and his fashion, homes and luxurious surroundings reflected his creativity and love of design. I’ve donated several of my Haute Couture pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Vera Wang
The designer shared a touching tribute to her friend on Instagram.

“To my dear friend….VALENTINO, a true designer and the ultimate influencer. Your love for women and beauty never wavered nor  your talent and generosity . I will personally miss you enormously and your unabashed sense of glamour and style! RIP. XXV 🙏❤️🌹💔” – 

Valentino Garavani, Vera Wang, Giancarlo Giammetti

 

Stefano Tonchi, Editorial Director 

Like many fashion journalists of my generation, I did not grow up watching Valentino. I was more interested in punk, ska, and new romantic of designers like Gianni Versace and Jean Paul Gaultier. I discovered Valentino much later, through icons and friends who wore his clothes and moved within a society that appears superficial only to those who cannot see beyond the surface.

With maturity, I came to understand the value of the commitment Valentino Garavani put into every decision involved in the construction of his garments. I also came to understand that the phrase he loved to repeat — “I love beauty. It’s not my fault” — was never a quip, nor an ironic defense against those who accused him of hedonism or detachment. It was, rather, an ethical statement, as if beauty were not one choice among many, but a calling, or even a fate: something one cannot escape without betraying oneself. Loving beauty, for him, did not mean ignoring the world, but opposing it with an alternative idea of order, measure, and harmony.

A radically contemporary choice, in every sense. Even a political one. Because claiming a love for beauty so openly means rescuing it from cynicism, from rapid consumption, from ugliness elevated, at times, into the compulsory language of the present. Elegance, grace, and perfection were never minor categories for him, but powerful tools for shaping desire and, ultimately, life itself.

Later, I came to appreciate Valentino’s talent and imagination, his experience and wisdom, the research and determination that guided his work, and I recognized the honesty and courage of his choices, even when they were judged, mocked, and accused of superficiality. I became a late admirer of Valentino, a man who was never afraid to be himself, who made no compromises, who did not submit to the dictatorship of the contemporary, and who remained faithful until his death to his own image and nature. Loving beauty, for him, was never a luxury; it was destiny.

Miss Lynn Manulis and her Mother Martha Philipps brought Valentino to Palm Beach and were the first to carry his designs in their store, Martha Inc.

 

Lisa Dennison, Kim Heirston Evans, Shelley Fox Aarons, Susan Gutfreund at Valentino’s “Noir” launch