“I never, never in my life say so many things like tonight. I’m going to tell you which underwear I am wearing,” joked Valentino as he got candid with Fern Mallis during his interview at 92nd Street Y. The 82 year old designer needs no introduction; his iconic gowns are as recognizable as his golden tan. Fashionfad brings his zingers for its readers to keep them updated:
On his love of beauty: “Beauty is very important to me in my life. I love beauty and that has always been my religion in life.”
On his decision to move to Paris at 17 years old: “I told my parents I wanted to move to Paris, then when someone asked to go to Paris it’s like today if a kid asked their parents to go to the moon.”
On his signature color: “I went to Barcelona dressed to see a designer and they invited me for the opening of the Opera House…and I was really attracted by the red color so I said one day when I am going to be a designer I will put red as my lucky color—and I did.”
On her second wedding: “She wore one of my dresses to her wedding to Aristotle Onassiss…she owned it already from my collection, it was already sitting in her closet. The most amazing thing happened, one month after the wedding we sold over 30 orders of the same dress, which was amazing because it was high fashion.”
On his favorite model: “Gisele for me, she is the top of the top.”
On Elizabeth Taylor: “Elizabeth Taylor was in Rome for one year to shoot Cleopatra. While there she heard I was a new designer and asked to see my clothes so we went to villa with my designs and there she was—she was still Mrs. Fisher at the time—she said she needed an evening gown for a movie opening. She was very demanding…she only would take a picture with me if I promised to give her a gown. I said, ‘Choose one that you like,’ and of course she chose the most expensive one.”
On his least favorite fashion decade: “I hated the ’80s fashion, looking back at my collections I hated my dresses, they were out of proportion—the shoulders too big, the hair was terrible, the shoes were no good. I never liked it. I always loved the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s.”
On his work ethic: “I have a lot of assistants but I never ask them to do something instead of myself.”
On the changing fashion industry: “What I did, what my colleagues did—it doesn’t exist anymore.”
On the way women dress today: “They are very beautiful but I am not so enchanted by people dressed in all black—which I’ve seen in the street”
On his new book, Valentino: At The Emperor’s Table: “I love a beautiful table— I am a fanatic of china, silver and a beautiful table. When I want to buy something it’s always something for the house.”
His favorite part of the new book: “My favorite is my white garden, it only has white flowers, at my house in France.”
On First Lady Michelle Obama: “I like Michelle Obama very much—she has the most beautiful arms in the world.”
On coming to New York for the first time: “The first thing I did when arriving in New York was to call Diana Vreeland. We had a very very good relationship.”
Looking back at his life and having regrets: “I think I was the happiest and luckiest and most fortunate person in the world…I don’t regret one second to be what I was because I had the most beautiful and enjoyable time in the world.”
