Beyond couture: beauty, faith, and the legacy of Valentino Garavani

Writer Jenny Sanders reflects on the death of Valentino Garavani at age 93, one of fashion’s last great couturiers. She contrasts his devotion to outward beauty with a faith-centred understanding of beauty that values inner character over image.

This week the fashion industry lost another giant. Valentino Garavani, who claimed, ‘I love beauty; it has always been my religion,’ passed away at the age of 93, surrounded by his family in Italy. For almost fifty years, he dressed some of the world’s most beautiful women, from Jackie Kennedy to European royalty. 

His luxury brand was on par with designers such as Armani, Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent, all of whom died before him. They came from an era of opulence we’re unlikely to see again; the last of the couturiers whose names became a byword in wealth.