A Red Dress Celebration in Memoriam of Valentino Garavani

“Valentino, live 100 years!” declared Jacqueline Kennedy in 1966. The couturier came close to doing so: News of his death—at 93—was announced today.

Valentino Garavani had the rare distinction of having his own Pantone color, Valentino Red. “When you see a woman in a beautiful red evening dress it’s really something special,” Valentino has said, and he’s proved the point over and over since showing his first red dress, called Fiesta in 1959. (Pierpaolo Piccioli paid homage to this garment in his fall 2022 couture collection for the house.)

“Valentino has superstitions that became status symbols. He did red once, and now you have red in every collection,” his business partner Giancarlo Giammetti told Vogue in 1985. “Most of our statements came to be because we are romantic; we don’t like to throw away things we like or that bring good luck.” In memory of the designer we are revisiting the collection of fortune-bringing red dresses first gathered to mark his 90th year.