Valentino: Master of Couture

Somerset House has opened a new exhibition on the life and work of fashion designer Valentino Garavani, celebrating the Italian’s 50-year career.

The exhibition titled ‘Valentino: Master of Couture’ features more than 130 hand-crafted Valentino designs, which have been worn by the likes of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, Gwyneth Paltrow.

Highlights of the exhibition include the vintage gown worn by Julia Roberts when she won an Academy Award in 2001, Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s wedding dress from Valentino’s 1968 White Collection and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece’s pearl-encrusted ivory silk wedding gown.

As well as viewing dresses from the couture catwalk and red carpet, as well as designs commissioned by private clients, visitors to the exhibition will also be able to view rare photographs from Valentino’s personal archives and a peek into his atelier through some custom-made films.

“Each of these designs have a beautiful story,” said Valentino. “The atelier crafted each so diligently by hand, taking hours, sometimes days to complete. The details are incredibly intricate, though outside the runway shows and events, the dresses have rarely been seen, so to be able to showcase these designs at Somerset House, where they can be seen in great detail by the public, is very unique.”

Valentino: Master of Couture runs at Somerset House until March 3, 2013.

Images: Somerset House/Peter Macdiarmid