Valentino

founded by

Valentino Garavani

belongs to

Valentino Fashion Group

about

In 1998, Valentino and his partnerGiancarlo Giammetti sold the company for approximately $300 million to Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali (HdP), an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agelli, the head of Fiat. He said it is because he wants the Valentino name to continue even after him. In 2002, Valentino S.p.A., with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto Apparel, another Italian luxury goods group, for $210 million.

It was rumored that HDP was displeased with Valentino�s and Giammetti�s personal expenses, a claim Giammetti has bristled at: businessmen have a perspective of fashion which is completely old-fashioned, they believe fashion is a little show with models-beautiful girls they would like to know-who walk on the runway. They don�t know how much work is behind it, and how important the image of the founder and the designer is for the company. You cannot talk about the dresses of Valentino without thinking about him, and when you think about him, you think about the glamorous life he leads, and all that adds to the product(Vanity Fair, August 2004).

Valentino includes the following brands: Valentino, Valentino Garavani, Valentino Roma e R.E.D. Valentino. It operates in the upper end of the fashion and luxury market, offering exclusive products in the couture, ready-to-wear, designer, diffusion and bridge segments.

This business unit gets its name from Valentino Garavani, the undisputed master of haute couture and one of the leading representatives of Italian style and creativity in the world of fashion and luxury. In over 45 years of being in business, his collections have dressed and accessorised top international celebrities time and time again.

Valentino operates in 70 countries, with more than 1,250 shops, 66 DOS.