“Italy bids farewell to a true icon today,” she expressed.

He remarked that Valentino had “expanded the horizons of possibility, traversing the globe with a unique sensibility, quiet discipline, and an immense passion for beauty.”

A pivotal encounter with Jackie Kennedy in 1964 marked a turning point.

Valentino revolutionized Jackie Kennedy’s wardrobe, and in 1968, she chose an ivory lace dress from his renowned white collection for her wedding to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

A meeting with Jackie Kennedy in 1964 that would prove decisive.

Valentino transformed Jackie Kennedy’s wardrobe, and in 1968 she picked an ivory-coloured lace dress from his famous white collection for her second marriage to Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis. Source: Getty / PL Gould

It caused a sensation in the United States, and in 1970, Valentino was the first Italian designer to open a shop in New York. Over the years he would elevate the “Made in Italy” label to global prominence.