Valentino

Valentino Garavani opened his fashion house in Rome in 1960, on Via Condotti, and established a palatial glamour: impeccable draping, evening gowns, and that signature Valentino red, now a color etched in memory if not in the color chart. Dresser to Jackie Kennedy and the red carpet, the founder passed the torch in 2008; under Pierpaolo Piccioli and then Alessandro Michele, the house, owned by Mayhoola with Kering as a shareholder, continues to produce haute couture among the most acclaimed in Paris, blending clean lines with Roman exuberance.