Valentino is a fashion house created by Valentine Garavani. It is among the most famous Italian fashion houses. Valentino was interested in fashion at an early age and at 17 he went to Paris to pursue his interest. His partnership with Giammetti bought worldwide expansion and success of the house. Both awed hush and ferment surround the Italian designer. In 1960, Valentino opened his first salon in Florence, the Italian fashion capital of the time. His first show at Pitti Palace got high exposure and gave the young designer recognition among the foreign buyers and he was appreciated by the press as well. In 1967 he had a secured client base and he moved his shows from Florence to Rome, there he premiered Valentino All White Collection which became famous for the 'V' logo he designed.

Valentino's designs were appreciated by Jacqueline Kennedy who ordered for six of his couture dresses all in black and white to wear during her year of mourning after J.F.K.'s death. Later on Valentino also designed the white dress that jackie wore to her wedding with the greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis. In 1969 he began his first Valentino boutique line of clothes and first shop in Milan. The most dramatic Italian line emphasized the waist with full double skirts, graduated in tiers and stiffened peplums. He currently designs menswear and womenswear and has his own perfume and make-up line. Valentino has expanded his business with a chain of boutiques in USA and Japan. In the eighties Valentino bought out his children's line and called it Oliver after his beloved pug dog. In 1992 Valentino's burgundy velvet dress was worn by Princess Diana on her trip to Hong Kong and London. Valentino is still designing all the collections and his clothes can be seen on the most sophisticated and elegant women in the world, from Nicole Kidman to Gwyneth Paltrow to Halle Berry, without forgetting many royal princesses such as Maxima of the Netherlands, Mette Merit of Norway and Marie Chantal of Greece.

The characteristics of Valentino's dresses are they are more dreamy, more romantic, more youthful and immaculately made. That's the lure and mastery of Valentino. He can lighten the edges of a razor-sharp blazer by coupling it with a ballooning skirt or a sweatshirt covering. According to Valentino a dress should have very little detail notes so as to design energy on creating a most perfect bias cut. He not only makes dresses but can uphold the sweater's status by showing a plaid knitted one with a skirt of contrasting textured lame-figured chiffon. With his innovative ideas a tee-shirt becomes a dress when made up with silk and has diamonds at the sleeves. The trademark of Valentino designs is he uses flowers in prints like silk and for petal shapes of bodices or skirts. He also puts in a lot of bows on his garments, at the waist or on a shoulder. He is truly the only designer who combines French embroidery and ideal taste with Italian fabrics, workmanship and glamour.