Valentino Resigns!

Designer Valentino Garavani on Tuesday unexpectedly announced he was retiring, just seven weeks after celebrating his 45th anniversary in fashion with a sumptuous weekend in Rome.

“Last July, in Rome, I celebrated my 45th Anniversary in Fashion. It was a moment of infinite magic and tremendous joy, and I cannot fully express with words how deeply moved I was by the occasion. I received an outpouring of good wishes from all over the world, which brought me great satisfaction. I was very touched that friends-old and new-traveled from far reaches to be a part of the Festivities,” Valentino said in an official press statement.

“It was a moment that will be impossible to repeat. And so, at this time, I have decided that is the perfect moment to say adieu to the world of fashion,” the 75-year-old designer added.

His departure comes three months after private equity Permira won a fraught takeover battle for control of the Valentino Fashion Group (VFG), that includes Valentino and Hugo Boss, in a deal that valued VFG at 2.6 billion Euros, and the house of Valentino, the designer with the most expensive and opulent lifestyle in fashion, at $380 million.

The acquisition marked the third change of owners for Valentino since he and his partner Giancarlo Giammetti sold the label back in 1998.

As the English say, “I would like to leave the party when it is still full,” joked Valentino.

However, his retirement is definitely unexpected. At a news conference in Rome, he denied any suggestion that he was considering calling halt to his career.

“I have no intention of retiring,” said a clearly still very in thrall of the limelight Val in Ara Pacis, which featured his summer exhibition in the austere minimalism of Raymond Meier’s new museum.

Asked about dealing with yet another new set of investors, Giammetti said: “I doubt they have spent so much money on a global luxury brand to devalue it by parting from so great a talent as Valentino.”

His partner’s departure is sure to raise speculation that the new owners were not so keen on funding Valentino’s legendarily extravagant lifestyle.

The couturier’s yacht TM alone has €1.2 million running costs; his three-hundred-acre estate near Versailles, Chateau de Wideville, features one million roses. Giammetti’s pied a terre in Paris has two Warhols, one Francis Bacon and Cy Twombley in the living room. They, very literally, lived like kings, in a palazzo practically on top of Rome’s Spanish Steps.

“I realize the house that carries my name will go through some changes but I wish to think that the team of designers of the various lines-some of whom have been working by my side of many years-will make me proud of Valentino's products,” said Valentino in a nod to the new owners.

Valentino’s final two collections will be his ready-to-wear collection to be shown in Paris this October and a last collection of haute couture to be shown in Paris in January 2008.

“My future will be filled with new interests and challenges. Some may be linked to fashion, as I have a strong desire to create and support institutions to promote the study of fashion design, and to preserve the history of the art of fashion. It will be a marvelous continuation of this amazing adventure that I had the privilege to have,” the great couturier added.

He certainly is going out on a high, not as a champion slugging out some final pointless rounds. His celebratory weekend in Rome summed up his obsession with opulent living.

His fashion house spent a reported €10 million on his Eternal City festivities, including a private party of 400 set in the ancient Temple of Venus and designed by cineaste Dante Ferretti, set director Zefferelli and Fellini in Italy and latterly of Oscar winners Cold Mountain and The Aviator. Beauties floated in five-meter long Valentino sinful red dresses across the amphitheater, shadows cast Expressionistically over apartment buildings, ancient stones, churches and Mediterranean pine.

Guests like Uma Thurman, Claudia Schiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Anne Hathaway and Elle MacPherson attended a runway show in the longest Renaissance room in Rome the next day, before enjoying a dinner for 1,000, wined on Ruinart and Tignanello and entertained by Annie Lennox.

“Even as a young boy, my passion was to design, and I have been very lucky to be able to do what I have loved all my life. There can be few greater gifts than that. I am especially grateful that I have been able to keep my own style over the decades, in spite of the many changes that have taken place in the world of fashion and in its business,” Sir Val continued in the release.

“My most emotional thanks go to the thousands of people in fashion, and to those the world over who have supported me all of these years. Finally, a special word of heartfelt thanks to my associates who have helped me make my work a success.”

The search will immediately begin to find a successor to Valentino, generally regarded as the greatest creator of fine evening wear for ladies in the past half century.

For those anxious to see what all the fuss is about, get thee to Rome to Valentino’s exceptional retrospective. Two regiments of his signature sinful red columns and cocktails flanked Ara Pacis’ gleaming white altar to the Roman goddess of peace.

But like Roman rulers before him, from Sulla to Diocletian, this emperor of style chose his own day to retire, and not to be pushed out a palace coup.

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