Italian fashion designer and art collector Valentino Garavani died in Rome on January 19 at age 93. Born in Voghera, he moved to Paris for fashion studies, worked for Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, then launched his own brand in Rome in 1959. Known for elegant gowns worn by icons like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Diana, he retired in 2008. Garavani and his longtime business partner Giancarlo Giammetti built significant art collections; Garavani sold a Basquiat painting for $67 million at Christie’s in 2023, and Giammetti sold another for $93 million in 2021. Garavani also owned works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, and de Kooning. In 2024, he opened PM23, an exhibition space in Rome run by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, which launched its second show, “Venus,” featuring Joana Vasconcelos, two days before his death.
Garavani’s death matters because he was not only a titan of fashion but also a major blue-chip art collector whose holdings included multimillion-dollar Basquiat paintings and works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, and de Kooning. His sales at auction underscored the crossover between fashion wealth and the high-end art market. The opening of PM23, a cultural hub for fashion and contemporary art, ensures his legacy will continue to influence both fields. His passing marks the end of an era for a figure who bridged haute couture and art collecting with extraordinary flair.