Valentino funeral: Hollywood and the fashion industry come out to say goodbye to the ‘The Last Emperor’ of fashion

By Leah Dolan and Barbie Latza Nadeau

Rome, Italy (CNN) — Peers, supporters, successors and admirers of the late Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani paid their respects today in Rome at the late couturier’s funeral.

Since Wednesday, Valentino (who often went by his first name) has been lying in state at PM23, the arts and culture exhibition space opened by Fondazione Valentino Garavani in 2025. There, amongst white-washed walls and under an opulent chandelier of white flowers, Valentino’s coffin lay. Today, it has been transported to the Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri — a church designed by Michelangelo in the 16th century — for the ceremony in central Rome.

While open to the public, the funeral guest list also included industry luminaries, as well as high-profile women — such as Anne Hathaway and Olivia Palermo — who regularly wore Valentino’s designs on the red carpet. Alessandro Michele, the current creative director at Valentino, arrived in dark blacked-out shades, while Donatella Versace wore a tight-fitting black dress with sculptural sleeves. Pierpaolo Piccioli, who was the designer of the namesake brand after Valentino retired in 2008 until 2024, made his way into the church alongside François-Henri Pinault — the chairman of the board of directors at Kering, the parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and more.

Also spotted was Fendi designer Maria Grazia Chiuri, the former creative director at Dior who also served a stint at Valentino. American designer Tom Ford, longtime British fashion journalist Suzy Menkes and Anna Wintour were also in attendance — the latter arriving in a fur stole and her signature layers of candy-colored jewel necklaces. Even the Carabinieri police capes worn by the guards were designed by Armani.

It was fitting for a figure who had such a striking vision of glamour. Valentino’s gowns were flamboyant, sophisticated, flattering and feminine — therefore beloved by actresses stepping out onto the red carpet. Jessica Lange, Sophia Loren, Julia Roberts and Cate Blanchett were all awarded their respective Oscars while wearing a Valentino dress, making the Italian label an unofficial good luck charm. “I know what women want,” he once told a reporter. “They want to be beautiful.” With his death, the fashion industry loses one of the last bastions of a different time: where a good outfit was simply defined by how gorgeous it was. In a 2008 documentary of his career, Valentino responded to the question of who could replace him. He answered in Italian: “After me, the flood.”

Early in the morning of the funeral, a steady stream of white flower wreaths were carried inside the basilica. Members of the public queued outside the church, some were dressed in red or carrying red bags, purses, scarves — a homage to the designer’s signature scarlet shade. One fan outside the church waved a glittering black poster to the camera: “Goodbye Valentino,” it read. “The last emperor of fashion.”

The-CNN-Wire
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