Valentino, Giammetti: ‘His legacy is beauty that creates culture’

Rome, 21 January (LaPresse) – ‘There is a phrase he said that is printed here as you go up: “I love beauty. That’s not my fault”. I think this is the most fitting way to remember him’. These were the words of Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino Garavani’s partner and business associate for many years, as he left the designer’s funeral parlour set up at the PM23 foundation in Rome. “What is Valentino’s moral legacy? I believe that the most important thing that guided him, and that he would certainly want to leave to the younger generations, is the desire for beauty, taste and beauty. Beauty creates beauty, culture. This is Valentino’s great legacy,‘ said Giammetti, who then specified: ’He always loved Rome and always wanted to stay in Rome. He is here with us and he too embraces Rome. Why Rome? We started here, in this building. It represented life, a nest where we grew up, took flight, but always returned here. What struck me? The love of the people, I didn’t expect so much love and so many things happening around us. I expected the newspapers, because I knew who Valentino was, but I didn’t expect the affection.”