Valentino Garavani: when fashion doesn't need to break with tradition

There are designers who mark a turning point with their groundbreaking forms or innovative approaches, fundamentally transforming what fashion had previously been. This is definitely not the case with Valentino Garavani, but that doesn't mean he deserves a secondary role in history. He belongs to the group of designers who, without fanfare, without ruptures or a desire to question, operate as a constant undercurrent, contributing stability and coherence to the established order. And in a system as volatile as fashion, where brands and narratives disappear every season, remaining relevant for decades is, in itself, an almost heroic feat.

In Valentino's case, his value lies in having been part of a generation of designers who, for the first time and irreversibly, placed Italy on the international fashion map. A considerable achievement, especially given that it was a time when Paris still held undisputed hegemony. However, each of these designers did so using very different strategies.

While Armani –death also recently– he advocated for rethinking gender roles and the relationship between body, clothing, and power; Gianni Versace embraced the stridency of pop luxury, and Franco Moschino opted to attack the elitism of the fashion system head-on; Valentino, on the other hand, through his characteristic red color (Valentino blond) as an immediate visual signature before the arrival of the branding massive, it demonstrated that refined and aristocratic luxury was not going to be, inevitably, an exclusive patrimony of Paris.