My Roman Holiday with Valentino

My Roman Holiday with Valentino
by PEGGY S IEGAL
p h o t o g raphed by ©PAT R ICK MC MU L L A N
Thursday, July 5th
ARRIVAL DAY: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME
All eyes are on Rome this weekend for a three-day, $10-million celebration of “Valentino a
Roma: 45 Years of Style,” an exhibit that encapsulates grace and everlasting beauty. We are
ready to rock ‘n’ roll with the 1,000 European aristocrats, movie stars, socialites and journalists who are descending on The Eternal City hell-bent on living la dolce vita.
By noon the group I am traveling with—American industrialist David Koch and his gorgeous statuesque wife Julia, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Charlie and Sara Ayers and Brad
Cosimar, the best friend of Valentino global PR maven Carlos Souza—check into the fabulously chic Hotel de Russie, which has terraced gardens inches away from the Spanish Steps
and the 18th-century Palazzo Mignanelli, where Valentino’s Louis XIV-style office—and its
26-foot ceilings—a located.
Va l e ntino Garavani
and Peggy Siegal
Ca r l os So u za and
Hamish Bow l es
Julia Koch and David Ko c h
Claudia Sc h i ffe r
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In each guest’s room is a wh i te canvas tote from L.L. Bean em broi dered
with en dless red Va l en tino logos, and a note personally sign ed by our host.
We get a detailed sch edule of events, a book, avi a tor sunglassesand a gold
p l a s tic en trance card with our name, preferred arrival times at each event
and the warning, “Sono di ri gore smoking e abi to lu n go.” No one can
get near a red carpet wi t h o ut this gold card, wh i ch is now worth gold.
Silver ch a u f feu red Mercedes minivans with mu l tilingual guides are
at our beck and call every day. Thu rsday aftern oon we visit Th e
Piazza Navona with the Fountain of the Four Rivers , The Pantheon,
The Trevi Fountain (wh ere we borrow Eu ros from our guide and throw her
m on ey in the water), the Ci rcus Maximus (used for ch a riot races in 2 B. C .
and more recen t ly the backdrop for Ben Hu r), and The Vi ctor Emanuel II
m onument, a colossal wh i te marble stru ctu re dedicated to the mem ory of
Italy’s first king, who was the gre a t - grandfather of Um berto II, the last king
of It a ly and the gre a t - gre a t - grandfather of our traveling bu d dy Di m i tri .
Friday, July 6th
10 A.M. SIGHTSEEING: THE ROMAN FORUM
The silver Mercedes reappear and take us to the Roman Forum. It is hot. It
is crowded. We are tourists, and we love it. We walk to the Colosseum and
pass 40 huge, chalk-white, fiberglass Doric columns rising out of the Temple of Venus. We realize they are not antiquities but replicas for the party.
We are whisked to the front of the line as a guide announces that Donald
Trump will be attending Valentino’s party tonight. (Oddly, a no show.)
E l i za b et h
Jagger and
Th e o d o ra
R i c h a rd s
1 P.M., LE JARDIN DE RUSSIE
Our group has a quick lunch on the terrace. We tell Judy Taubman, who is
at the next table, that we are going on a private tour of The Vatican. She
tells us she has done the tour twice, met the Pope and been to his private apartment. (She must have a better travel agent than we do.)
3 P.M., A PRIVATE TOUR OF THE VATICAN
We have fussed and discussed our Vatican outfits for days. We are
dressed in tailored suits as our silver chariots drive us past hundreds of
people waiting on line wearing T-shirts and flip-flops. Our guide races us
through Vatican City—the palaces, art gallery, the museum of antiquities,
the map room, and the Sistine Chapel, which is packed like a subway station. We’re led through a tiny door, down a dark hallway, up some steps
into a room lined with closets . . . and I whisper, “Holy macaroni, we are in
the Pope’s robing room.” We can’t believe it. The guide begins to take out
the Pope’s undergarments and embroidered r obes. We feel his gold
threads, running our unwashed hands over everything. We are shown all
the jewel-encrusted miters, rosaries, shoes, gloves and chalices. We are in
clothing heaven—and this is before we see a single Valentino dress. We are
about to try on the Pope’s skullcap, when Anna Wintour walks in with her
daughter, Bee Shaffer, and the Monsignor in charge of ceremonies. Our
guide could be headed straig ht to hell. We freeze. The Monsignor pulls
him aside . . . and miraculously everything is fine. We sign the guest book
and notice Sarah Jessica Parker was there right before us. I think about
putting J.A.P. after my name, but as a guest of Valentino, Rome’s most
famous citizen after the Pope, I decide to play it straight.
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G i a n ca r l o
G i a m m etti and
A l l i son Sa rofi m
Daphne Guinness, Ka r l
L a g e r feld and Lynn Wya tt
Fa b i o l a
Be ra ca sa
A n d res Sa nto Domingo
and Lauren Dav i s
Eugenia Silva
Uma Thurman and
P r i n ce Dimitri of
Yu g o l s l av i a
7:30 P.M. THE EXHIBITION;
VALENTINO A ROMA: 45 YEARS OF STYLE
MUSEUM OF ARA PACIS, VIA RIPETTA
C l a i re
D a n es
The Ara Pacis is the “altar of majestic peace” built in 9 B.C. It is now
housed in a stunning but controversial museum designed by Richard
Meier. (Meier, whose name was on every press release, was oddly
another no show. A week later, he confides to me it was “one of the bigger mistakes of my life.”) Patrick Kinmonth, the British opera and
stage designer, and Roman Antonio Monfreda designed the installation. Hamish Bowles, European editor at large of Vogue, was the
archival consultant who curated the 300 dr esses. Giancarlo
Giammetti, Valentino’s brilliant business partner of 45 years, onetime companion and confidant, oversaw everything.
Entering the opening night of the exhibition is as thrilling as lighting the Olympic torch and winning the Oscar for lifetime achievement at the same time.
We ascend a huge, white marble staircase to be greeted and kissed by
Valentino with Giancarlo at his side. At 75, Valentino is very slender, very
tan, very coiffed, very charming and very, very excited. As he embraces
every guest, he also makes sure the photographer gets the two-shot. We
enter a dark tunnel with three tiers of mannequins wearing magnificent
clothes and attached to sky-high walls. Next we are in a sun-drenched glass
box that ironically illuminates evening dresses, which are also juxtaposed
against dark Cyprus trees and a blue sky.
The sym bolic centerp i ece is Valentino’s wh i te 1990 Peace dress with the
word pe ace em broidered in silver in 14 languages. Valentino call ed every
embassy to have them fax the correct spelling of “pe ace” in their language.
Red-cl ad , goddess-like gi l ded mannequins flank ei t h er side of the altar wi t h
their arms out s tretch ed like a ch orus of a n gels. We descend a staircase lined in a
ra i n bow of co l ored gowns. Ch a m p a gne is passed among the worl d ’s most
famous and be a utiful women, who are dressed in Va l en tino they ei t h er own or
have borrowed. Uma Thu rm a n , Anne Hathaway, E l i z a beth Hu rl ey, E lle McPherson, Claudia Sch i f fer, Cl a re Danes, Eva Mendes, Si enna Mi ll er, Natalia Vodianova, Corn elia Guest, Anna Wintour, Joan Co llins and 80-year-old
Gina Loll obri gida are just a few of the impecc a bly
dre s s ed wom en floa ting around. It is an overl oad of
be a uty. I don’t know wh ere to look t firs t .
The exhibiti on also has muslin dummies
em broidered with movie stars names on the
n eck s . These display Va l en ti n o’s most iconic
Sa rah Jess i ca Pa r ke r
and Matt h ew
B ro d e r i c k
M a r i ssa
Be re n so n
Bi a n ca Brandolini, Co co Bra n d o l i n i
and Eugenie Niarc h os
92 | AVENUE MAGAZINE · SEPTEMBER 2007
Eva Mendes
cel ebri ty dresses—the ones worn by Audrey Hepbu rn , Sophia Loren, Pri n cess Di a n a , Julia Robert s ,
Cate Bl a n ch ett and Elizabeth Tayl or—and vi deo
monitors play mini-movi e s , Oscar accept a n ce
s peeches or just grand en tra n ce s . This is very cool.
The exhibition is open to the public until October
28 and is worth a trip to Rome.
Friday, July 6th
9:30 P.M. OPENING-NIGHT DINNER
TEMPLE OF VENUS, VIA SAN GREGORIO
Since Valentino donated $270,000 to the city of Rome, Mayor Walter Veltroni gave him unprecedented access to The Temple of Venus,
an ancient site so sacred that the Pope visits once a year by himself.
Too bad he is out of town this weekend.
The 40 fiberglass replica Doric columns we had seen this morning on our walk through the forum are now glowing from within.
At one end is a brand new gigantic statue of Venus in an enormous niche. At the opposite end, we see the Colosseum, now
bathed in red lights. The panorama is breathtaking.
Va l en tino wanted the dinner to feel as if it were in one of his
homes, and food was coo ked by his pers onal ch ef . Renown ed Oscarwinning, Italian movie de s i gn er Dante Ferret ti rec reated the ori gi n a l
temple. Even the we a t h er, their bi ggest uncon troll a ble worry, was perfect .
The eve ning originally was planned for 250 gold-card-carr ying
guests, but has now swelled to 500. We dine under the stars on white
couches and chairs situated in living room–like clusters. Former Italian
Premier Silvio Berlusconi sits with Princess Caroline of Hanover and
the Shah of Iran’s widow, Empress Farah Diba Pahlavi.
Also dining under the stars are Alexis Bryan, Amy Sacco, Barry Diller,
Lauren Davis and her fiancé Andres Santo Domingo, Wendy Finerman,
Elle
M a c P h e rso n
Diane von Fu rste n b e rg
and Barry Diller
Anna
Wi ntour and
Bee Shaffe r
G i o rgio Armani
Valentino’s friends kiss-kiss and kiss-kiss
each other nonstop all afternoon and
continue to marvel at the magic of last
night’s magnificent show.
Georgina Chapman and Harvey Weinstein, Graziano De Boni, Hamilton
South, Kate Betts, Jane Sarkin, Annelise Peterson, Valesca GuerrandHermès, Ellen Niven, Mark Gilbertson, Tamara Mellon, Alice Bamford, Carole Bamford, Bianca Brandolini, Rebecca de Ravenel, Olivia
Chantecaille, Alessandra Borghese, Coco Brandolini, Eugenie Niarchos, Stefano Tonchi, Christian Louboutin and Rena Sindi.
In front of the Colosseum, a light show and shower of fireworks
explodes in synchronization with an ope ra sung by Maria Callas.
Three acrobatic dancers in flowing , fairy-like red Valentino dresses
whirl above the ruins and float like birds on a wire strung across the
Colosseum, which is now lit with different colors. A dancer in white
emerges from the ground and ascends into the sky with a giant blue
globe balloon that is painte d with the word “Valentino” repeated in
golden circles. It is a happe ning of such heavenly beauty that these 500
sophisticated guests are reduced to children squealing with amazement.
Only Valentino could have made the Colosseum, the very symbol of Imperial Rome, even more exquisite.
Saturday, July 7th
10 A.M. A PRIVATE TOUR OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA
J e n n i fer Creel, Alexa n d ra vo n
Fu rste n b e rg, Ryan Haddon
and Va l esca Guerra n d - H e r m es
Pedro Girao a European advisor for Christie’s has arranged a private tour
of the Palazzo Colonna, which was built in the 15th century. Like many
palaces in Rome, the exterior is grand but simple, camouflaging a life
of sumptuousness inside. The noble Colonnas plastered their red coat
of arms (a column) on every inch of their possessions. They amassed
one of the largest privately held priceless art collections in the world. As
Pedro patiently explains the history, David Koch, the most inquisitive of
our group, humbly and hilariously admits his entire 25,000-square-foot
Palm Beach Mizner mansion could fit into the Colonnas’ humungous
ballroom.
MR. VALENTINO’S
TABLE
■ Mr. Valentino Garavani
■ Ministro Francesco Rutelli
■ Uma Thurman
1 P.M. MARINA PALMA’S LUNCH FOR VALENTINO AT
DAL BOLOGNESE OVERLOOKING THE PIAZZA DEL
POPOLO.
■ HRH Prince Pavlos of Greece
■ HIM The Shahabanou of Iran
■ SAR la Pcesse Caroline de Hanovre
■ Karl Lagerfeld
■ Anna Wintour
“Va Va”, as the press call Valentino, is with his models in last minute fittings, preparing for his couture show, but everyone from his inner sanctum is here. David Koch and I sit w ith Princess Marie Chantal and
Prince Pavlos of Greece, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Elizabeth
Hurley and her charming new husband Arun Nayar, Lynn Wyatt and
Donald Moore, Marina’s banker boyfriend. Tim Jeffries stops by the
table to announce he just proposed to his model girlfr iend Malin
Johansson the night before, and she flashes her multi-carat ring.
Bob Colacello holds court outside. He is writing a piece for Vanity
Fair and has been scribbling in his notebook f or days. He and VF’s
Wendy Stark amuse Caroline of Monaco, Ernst of Hanover, Allison
Sarofim, Stuart Parr, London deco rator Nicky Haslam and Baroness
Helene Ludinghausen.
Susan Gutf reund, Ma risa Berenson, Doris Bry n n er, Francois Ca troux,
Ma rina Cicogn a , Jacqu eline de Ri be s , Daphne Guinness, Kenny Jay Lane,
Lee Rad z iwi ll , Be a tri ce and Julio Ma ria Sa n to Domingo, Reinaldo Herrera, Rosita, Du chess of Ma rl boro, and Princess Ira von Fu rs tenberg are
just a few of Va l en ti n o’s devoted and loyal friends at the lunch. Th ey
kiss-kiss and kiss-kiss each other nonstop all aftern oon and con ti nue
to marvel at the magic of last nigh t’s magn i f i cent show.
This is the day Valentino asks his women to change their clothes
four times, and they could not be happier. We start with the cool
casual breakfast/shopping/sightseeing outfit, move into the daytime chic lunch ensemble, change into a late afternoon cocktail
dress for the show, and once more redo ourselves head to toe,
pouring our bodies into ball gowns for the gala—my idea of a
perfect day.
■ Sindaco di Roma Walter Veltroni
■ HRH Princess Marie Chantal of
Greece
■ SAR le Pce Ernst de Hanovre
■ HRH Princess Rosario of Bulgaria
Zac Posen and
M a rg h e r i ta
M i sso n i
5 P.M. PRESENTATION OF THE FALL-WINTER
2007/08 COUTURE COLLECTION
COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE S. SPIRITO IN
SAXIA, BORGO S. SPIRITO 1
Once again, those silver Mercedes bring us to another spectacular venue for the couture show: a restructured 16th-century medieval building, the Complesso Monumentale of
Santo Spirito in Sassia, originally used as a convent and a
stone’s throw from the Vatican.
Dante Ferretti, Federico Fellini’s and Marty Scorsese’s
Oscar-winning set designer, has lined the endless walls
with a vast photo retrospective of Valentino’s blackand-white advertising and editorial images, evoking
the look of a massive art gallery.
Tory Bu rch and
L a n ce Armst ro n g
Tom Fo rd
Arun Nayar and
E l i za b eth Hurley
Olivia
C h a nte ca i l l e
We need to show that gold ID card to get in . . . society to the
white gallery, press to the black gallery. One thousand famous
people, still kissing each other, eventually settle into three rows
that are a mile long.
The clothes Valentino sends down the runway are as explosive as the fireworks from the night before. The opulent
and vibrant evening gowns are bedecked with enough jewels, feathers, beads and bows to wow even the most blasé
red-carpet paparazzi.
Equally impressive is the line-up of Valentino’s colleagues in the front row, which indicates his enormous
popularity. Sitting next to each other are Diane von
Furstenberg, Zac Posen, Manolo Blahnik, Tom Ford,
Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Philip Treacy, Carolina Herrera and Karl Lagerfeld, whom Valentino has
known for 52 years.
At the finale, everyone jumps to their feet and wildly
cheers as Valentino strides down the runway behind his
models. He is wearing an immaculate white fitted suit and has
his arms in the air like a conquering gladiator. He is crying.
9:30 p.m Gala Dinner
GALLERIA BORGHESE-VIA PINCIANA
C h r i stine Sc hwa rz m a n a n d
Stephen Sc hwa rz m a n
Reinaldo Herre ra and
Ca rolina Herre ra
The lobby of the Hotel de Russie is clogged with swans in
Valentino ball gowns—Julia Koch in white, Sara Ayres in red,
Marie Chantal in pink, Anne Hathaway in black, Jennifer
Hudson in brown and Sarah Jessica Parker in gold.
Senator and jet-set racounteur Mario D’Urso spontaneously
drives me over to the Villa Borghese and gives me a tour of the Galleria Borghese museum with its Caravagg ios, Canovas and Bernini
sculptures. He introduces me to every noble Italian in Italian—which
is a little scary. We stroll through the gardens into a vast, Chinesethemed, tented dining room designed, once again, by Dante Ferretti and built especially for the eve ning—complete with tufted
ceiling, palm trees and lacquered red and black walls, recreating
the exotic glamour of Shanghai in the 1920s.
During dinner, snippets of the cinema verité documentary
on Valentino are shown. The documentary was produced and
directed by Matt Tyrnauer, a veteran VF journalist. He has
been globetrotting for two years, filming Valentino’s life of
“art, beauty and love” on the designer’s 152-foot yacht and in
his five homes: Rome, London, Gstaad, Paris and Manhattan.
Tyrnauer describes his film as a celebration of the “last
emperor of haute couture.”
Valentino then makes a very short speech to everyone who
has shared his unforgettable weekend, “I love you, all of you,
very much.” Chanteuse Annie Lennox, wearing her first
Valentino, sings Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and
Mick Jagger, fresh from his sold-out performance the
night before (attended by Lance Armstrong and Tory
Burch) jumps up on the dance floor . . . along with Uma
Thurman, Rupert Everett and the girls in red: Claudia Schiffer,
Sienna Miller, Natasha Richardson and Lynn Wyatt in a 25-yearold gown. Claire Danes snakes her tight body ar ound Hugh
Dancy’s tight body as they dirty dance the night away.
D o n a te l l a
Ve rsa ce and
Ru p e rt Eve rett
At the finale, everyone jumps to
their feet and wildly cheers as Valentino
strides down the runway with his arms in
the air like a conquering gladiator.
Also celebrating are Valentino’s American boyfriend since
1982, Bruce Hoeksema; Valentino’s and Giancarlo’s god-children, Sean
Souza and his brother Anthony along with their dad Carlos and mom
Charlene de Ganay; Nati Abascal and her son Duque de Feria; Lita, George
and Stavros Livanos; Lord Charles Spencer Churchill; Carolina Herrera,
Jr.; Prince and Princess Pierre d’Arenberg; Count and Countess Ravenal;
HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan; Eugenia Silva and A lejandro Santo
Domingo; Eugenia and John Radziwill; Baronne Silvie de Waldner;
Stephen and Christine Schwarzman; Giles Bensimon and Diana Widmaier
Picasso; Margherita Missoni; Charlotte and Andrea Casiraghi (Princess
Caroline’s gorgeous children); Glenda Bailey; Pamela Fiori; Patrick
McCarthy; André Leon Talley; Fabiola Bera casa; Jennifer Creel; Rachel
Zoe; Delphine Arnault Gancia; Taki Theodoracopulos; Theodora
Richards; Georgia and Elizabeth Jagger.
In the end, Valentino’s only disappointment is missing Gwyneth Paltrow, who smashed her knee tripping over furniture and is on crutches in
her East Hampton home, and Meryl Streep, who sent her husband Don
Gummer and their daughter Mamie. Valentino had a cameo in The Devil
Wears Prada and became very friendly with Meryl, but she is stuck in
Stockholm preparing to film the hit Abba musical, Mamma Mia!
Well, mamma mia, Valentino! His lucky friends will reminisce for years
to come about this extraordinary event. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but
Valentino transformed it in three. Bravo Valentino! ✦
Cornelia Guest
MR. GIAMMETTI’S
TABLE
■ Giancarlo Giammetti
■ Diane Von Furstenberg
■ Mick Jagger
■ L’Wren Scott
■ Shelby Bryan
■ Suzy Menkes
■ Rupert Everett
■ Donatella Versace
■ Matthew Broderick
■ Sigra Franca Sozzani
■ HRH Prince Kyril of Bulgaria
■ Sarah Jessica Parker
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