{bon soir, valentino, and farewell}

Have been waiting {for what feels like an eternity} for the unveiling of Valentino’s last ever couture collection, held today in Paris. The historical event, ending his brilliant 45-year career, took place before 700+ invited guests in the graciously refined surroundings of the Museum Rodin on the Left Bank.

"I don't want to be ridiculous and I don't want to be emotional," says Valentino. "I must be happy. I have had a fantastic career and I don't regret one moment of it.”

"I want to give my adieu in all the most beautiful colors of spring. And I want to prove what I am capable of in haute couture."

"Even as a young boy, my passion was to design, and I have been very lucky to be able to do what I have loved all my life. There can be few greater gifts than that."

"I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business."





The king of couture learned his craft in France, at the École des Beaux Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, before becoming an apprentice to French designer Guy Laroche. But it was in Rome that he opened his first fashion house in 1959. While he may have caused a stir from the beginning, it was with his celebrated White Collection in 1968, that everyone took notice, including Jackie Kennedy, who would one day become his muse.

His successor, Alessandra Facchinetti, former artistic director at Gucci (appointed by the British-based private equity fund Permira, who purchased the fashion house for $3.8 billion), makes her debut in March with her first collection of women's ready-to-wear.

The fashion maestro made his way down the high-gloss herringbone runway between a sea of begowned models, all perfectly groomed in the designer's signature Valentino red.

The 75-year-old designer will also be presented with the Grand Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris by Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, an honour that will make him an honorary citizen of the city where he has shown since 1989, honouring his lifetime achievement and the Italian's longstanding love affair with Paris.

{Valentino's final bow.}

"All I ever wanted was beauty — to make women beautiful."
And that, he did.

{credits: Suzy Menkes, International Herald Tribune, camilla @ fashioninsanity, Joelle Diderich, Associated Press, Chris Moore/Karl Prouse}