More than anyone in Matt Tyrnauer's Valentino: the Last Emperor (2007), it is Karl Lagerfeld whom Valentino most wants to impress. Not surprising, since the original Thunderbird was probably closest to what Valentino was at that point: the world's last couturier.
The only thing worse than being last (as in remaining) is not having anyone around who can relate to what that means.
Lagerfeld was born a year after Valentino in 1933, and passed away in 2019. But Valentino continues to remain, now sixteen years into retirement after selling what remained of the company he co-founded with Giancarlo Giammetti in 1959.
This is a great documentary that rewards on a number of levels. We certainly learn about capital F Fashion: how it was when the designer had the power, how it became when money (what Giammetti refers to as "a language all its own") turned an industry (a maker of objects) into a business (a maker of profits).
Some favourite scenes come nearer to the end as Valentino's people are preparing his 45-year retrospective, with his greatest dresses lined up on racks. Valentino pulls one out and announces: "The embroidery! You could not make this dress today without selling an Italian bank!" Another is Valentino's reunion with his seamstresses past and present, who enter his exhibition en masse, where they are greeted by a humbled Valentino.
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