1970s Valentino Silk Multicolored ColorBlock Maxi Skirt
View Similar Items
1970s Valentino Silk Multicolored ColorBlock Maxi Skirt
About the Item
Valentino
The mononymously known Italian designer Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani (b. 1932) is renowned for his fashion house of romantic styles and feminine shapes that he founded in Rome in 1960. Valentino dresses, skirts and other apparel captured the hearts of many of Italy’s wealthiest ladies in the couturier’s early days and led to commissions from Babe Paley, Gloria Guinness, Jayne Wrightsman and others on the international best-dressed list (when it still meant something). They sought out Valentino for gorgeous gowns, jackets, elegant daytime wear and even when they needed wedding dresses.
An early fascination with fashion developed when Valentino attended the theater as a child and was dazzled by the evening gowns on stage. While a teenager in Voghera, Lombardy, he studied under Italian designer Ernestina Salvadeo and soon moved to Paris, where he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts and the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. Valentino spent time apprenticing under haute couturiers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche, learning how to design and construct high fashion while also thinking about how to strike out on his own.
In 1959, Valentino returned to Italy, and a year later, he opened his own salon, soon joining with longtime professional and personal partner Giancarlo Giammetti. It was located on Rome’s trendy Via Condotti and modeled after the French maisons. One of his earliest clients was Elizabeth Taylor, who discovered Valentino while she was in Rome filming Cleopatra and ordered the white dress that she wore to the premiere of Spartacus.
When the designer launched his first couture line in 1962 with its fiery red colors, it was internationally celebrated, with Valentino soon attiring fashion trendsetters including Princess Margaret and Audrey Hepburn. He formed an especially close friendship with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, for whom he designed numerous dresses. Luxurious drapery with fine needlework, bold uses of color and dramatic flourishes would define Valentino fashion across the decades.
As a fashion house, Valentino is best known for its signature Valentino Red color, though one of its iconic lines is the monochromatic “no colour” collection for which the designer won the Neiman Marcus Award in 1967. (The collection also debuted his trademark “V.”) The white dresses and beige dresses led to a demand for Valentino wedding gowns, with clients including Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Lopez and Anne Hathaway.
Valentino retired from his fashion empire in 2007, with Alessandra Facchinetti and then the duo Maria Grazia Chiuri (who departed in 2016) and Pierpaolo Piccioli succeeding him as creative directors. But Valentino still steps out of retirement for special occasions, such as designing a wedding gown for Princess Madeleine of Sweden in 2013.
Today, the brand offers a range of collections that include the Valentino Garavani line and REDValentino, a diffusion line that is aimed at a younger audience. The house has expanded far beyond women’s haute couture and prêt-à-porter to encompass various lines of accessories, including shoes, sunglasses, scarves and perfume.
Find vintage Valentino evening dresses, handbags and other items on 1stDibs now.
- Issey Miyake Colorblock Woven Ribbon Skirt, 1990sBy Issey MiyakeLocated in Boca Raton, FLIssey Miyake has a unique architectural aesthetic mixing concepts that typically would be avoided by most designers. Fine, micro-pleating, one of his favorites, is incorporated into ...Category
1990s Japanese Pencil Skirts
- Yves Saint Laurent Black and Green Silk Chiffon Ruffle Trim Sash Skirt, 2004By Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Boca Raton, FLThis is a fabulous YSL silk flamenco skirt. Made of fine lightweight airy silk chiffon that feels incredible against the body. I love the midnight bla...Category
20th Century French Skirts
- Pucci Wool Printed Blouse & Maxi Velvet Skirt Set Rare, 1970sBy Emilio PucciLocated in Boca Raton, FLA Fabulous feather printed Pucci Outfit. Loving the color combination. of the bright Fuschia background with the print in blues, black and gold. The Blouse is a lightweight wool, wi...Category
1970s Italian Blouses
$899 Sale Price25% Off - Yves Saint Laurent Red Multicolored Plaid Full Maxi Skirt YSL , 1970sBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Boca Raton, FLPlaids were popularized in Saint Laurent’s collections from the late 1960s to the early 70s. Appearing most frequently in skirts, the colorful plaids for Rive Gauche reimagined tradi...Category
1970s French Skirts
- James Purcell Black and Gray Silk Polka Dot Satin Belt Mini Skirt Overlay, 1980sBy James PurcellLocated in Boca Raton, FLA business guru by original trade, American designer James Purcell established a well-respected career in fashion for some time. Despite coming from a background in finance and the M...Category
1980s American Skirts
- Vintage Missoni Metallic Silk Jersey Top and Skirt SetBy MissoniLocated in Boca Raton, FLDivine silky Missoni blouson top with a matching midi skirt. Multi- Color metallics with silver threading.Category
1970s Italian Blouses
- Joseph Belted Sash Black Skirt Size UK LBy JosephLocated in New York, NYThis is a skirt full of delightful surprises. It moves with you. Hidden slits and flaps, wrapped belted waist gives a variety of options for styling. The long sash belt allows for...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Skirts
$500 Sale Price28% Off - JEAN PAUL GAULTIER 1990 fringed denim skirt - part of a setBy Gaultier JeansLocated in Genève, CHBlue denim skirt with fringe trim by Jean Paul Gaultier, wear yours with the matching shirt. -Frayed fringe details along seams and hems -Metal zipper and logo on the side -100% Cot...Category
1990s Italian Skirts
$605 Sale Price30% Off - CACHAREL - Black Cotton Wrap Mini Skirt Size 0US 34EUBy CacharelLocated in Cuggiono, MICacharel is a French company of ready-to-wear clothing, perfume and accessories, founded in 1958 by Jean Bousquet. Cacharel designs are characterized by their youthful style, femininity, lightness, refinement, and use of bright colours. Cacharel is named after the local name of the garganey, a small duck...Category
Early 2000s Polish Wrap Skirts
- John Galliano SS-2011 Wool Ruffled Hem Knee Length SkirtBy John GallianoLocated in Brussels, BEThe genius of John Galliano was his ability to make even the most traditional shapes alluring and seductive, adding his own personal twist to classical dressing. This stylish knee le...Category
2010s French Skirts
- Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford FW-2003 Higher Waist Skirt with Belt DetailingBy Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Tom Ford for Yves Saint LaurentLocated in Brussels, BEThis is reinterpretation of the infamous Tom Ford pencil skirt, with a nod to the elegance of the 1940s. Saint Laurent’s Spring/Summer 1971 Haute Couture collection channeled the loo...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts
- Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford SS-02 Cotton Laced Safari Skirt with Leopard TrimBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Brussels, BEThe sexy pencil skirt was a piece that Carine Roitfeld, Tom Ford’s longtime stylist and former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief, made quite popular in the early noughties. Roitfeld was obsessed with the rigor and discipline of uniforms, but she kept looking for ways to add eroticism to strictly tailored clothes. This military-inspired skirt -with its sensual trim of leopard print chiffon- was an obvious choice for her and hasn’t lost any of its relevance. This is a version of skirt Look 2 as seen on the runway spring/summer 2002, ready-to-wear, model Rie Rasmussen 100% cotton in brown Leopard trim...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts