Valentino: The Last Emperor the Movie

   Valentino: The Last Emperor, directed by Matt Tyrnauer, is a feature-length movie that takes the viewer inside the singular world of one of Italy's most famous designers, Valentino Garavani. The film documents the colorful and dramatic closing act of Valentino's celebrated career, tells the story of his extraordinary life, and explores the larger themes affecting the fashion business today.

   In production from June 2005 to July 2007, the filmmakers shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage. "We were let in to the inner circle, but we had to stick it out for a long time, practically move in, to capture the truly great moments," says Tyrnauer. "Valentino is surrounded by a tight-knit family of friends and employees, but, eventually, their guard came down and they forgot there was a camera crew in the room. The scope of Valentino's wealth and the elaborateness of his global lifestyle put him on a level with emperors, kings, and queens. It is a world of villas, chateaux, yachts, fine art, and Meissen porcelain treasures.

  Valentino: The Last Emperor looks at a majestic life from the inside, but the movie is not a simple story of shallow glamour. It is the saga of a family--though not a traditional one--and a meditation on the creative process. It's also the story of a soon-to-be-forgotten lifestyle at the twilight of haute couture. It is also, in the words of Valentino's longtime business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti, "not a story of money or fashion; it is a story of love."

   To know Valentino is also to know Giancarlo Giammetti, widely considered to be one of the most brilliant businessmen of his generation in Italy, and certainly one of the great business icons in the history of fashion. He and Valentino began as boyfriends in the early 1960s, and ended up as life business partners who, with great ambition and talent, have built a billion-dollar fashion business from the ground up.

   Anchoring the film's narrative is the arc of Valentino's last two years at the helm of the fashion house he created. Still at the top of his game after 45 years, the designer began with only a dream. A little boy from a middle-class family growing up in a small town outside of Milan, early on Valentino recognized his calling: to dress the stars he saw in the Hollywood movies his sister brought him to see at the local cinema. His talent for fashion presented itself at an early age--as did his iron will. As a schoolboy, he demanded that his mother take him to the local weavers so that he could get his sweaters custom-made to his own designs.

   At 17 he set out for Paris and worked as an apprentice alongside other ambitious wouldbe couturiers (Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, among them). Living in a garret apartment in Paris, he drew elaborate fantasy dresses (Lana Turner being his greatest inspiration), and then, one day, decided to strike out on his own. He was instantly recognized as a prodigy in the field of high fashion by certain ladies at the top of society. After a time in Paris, he took his talent to Rome (then a fashion capital equal to Paris) and began a journey unlike any other in the world of design. There were hundreds of names in high fashion in Rome at this time. Today there is only Valentino.

 While following the creative process, and seeing Valentino bring a full couture collection to the Paris runway, the camera captures the extraordinary relationship of Valentino and Giammetti. With access to the private world of our two main characters, we see how they love each other deeply, but can also fight with equal passion--in three languages: Italian, French and English.

Not only have the two men altered the world of fashion, they have also redefined the idea of family, building an elaborate court of many loyal friends and workers, who help them run their global operation, carefully plotting which Oscar-nominated actress will wear which Valentino dress for the red carpet. The camera sees the inner workings of this amazing nomadic family, which moves around together from the places where Valentino and Giammetti maintain homes: Rome, Paris, London, Gstaad, Tuscany, and New York. In summer, they sail the Mediterranean aboard Valentino's 152-foot yacht, the TM Blue One.

   The film opens backstage in February 2007 at Valentino's spring prêt-a-porter show, when media speculation about Valentino's retirement, his possible successors, and the future leadership of the company is reaching a crescendo. Rumors are swirling and emotions running high among his longtime staff--their futures are just as uncertain as Valentino's.

   We flash back a year earlier and join Valentino in his studio designing the elaborate couture dresses that made him famous, and his dozens of seamstresses--many of whom have worked for him for 35 years or more--bringing his visions to life in the Rome headquarters' three ateliers. There are many dramatic moments as everyone rushes to complete the collection in time for the Paris show. During this first act we meet Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino's business partner and companion of 50 years.