Rome pays last respects to fashion 'emperor' Valentino in a two-day public viewing

ROME (AP) — Rome was paying its last respects to the legendary Valentino on Wednesday at the start of a two-day public viewing for a fashion designer whose high-glamour gowns and trademark shade of red became an iconic symbol of Italian elegance.

Valentino Garavani, who died aged 93 at his Rome residence on Monday, is lying in state at his foundation in Piazza Mignanelli, just a few steps away from the world-known Spanish Steps.

The funeral for the jet-set Italian designer, who built his house in the Italian capital, will be held on Friday in the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in central Rome.

Universally known by his first name, Valentino was adored by generations of royals, first ladies and movie stars, from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Julia Roberts and Queen Rania of Jordan, who swore the designer always made them look and feel their best.

Hundreds of fashion celebrities, authorities and Roman citizens lined up to honor the “last emperor” of Italian fashion during the public viewing. He always maintained his atelier in Rome, while he mostly unveiled his collections in Paris.

Mourners waited in line to enter the headquarters of Valentino’s foundation and stop for a few moments in front of his coffin, adorned with just one red rose and surrounded by white flowers.

Only his closest relatives and friends sat on both sides of the coffin, including his two beloved fawn-colored pugs.

“I worked for him for 14 years ... Those were the most beautiful years of my life, the ones with him," said hairdresser Alba Armillei. “Everything he touched became beautiful.”

Hailing him as one of “Italy’s most luminous and beloved figures,” Rome's Mayor Roberto Gualtieri underlined the designer’s strong links with the Italian capital.

Alba Verga, in her red Valentino coat, remembered Valentino as “the biggest, most immense forever.”

"He made us dream. His dresses for me were sculptures, works of art, but above all dreams and through his dresses, I always dreamed,” she said.

Alessandro Michele, the current creative director of the Valentino fashion house, said the Maestro would be irreplaceable, but left a sound heritage.

“He's been a great example of life,” Michele told reporters before entering the foundation for his last salute. “He came from afar and built something immense.”

Dancer Eleonora Abbagnato recalled “the first dress created by Valentino for the Vienna Opera when I danced for New Year’s Eve with ostrich feathers, true elegance, the red, the emotions and effect that he created.”

Windows of the central Valentino store were covered up with black with his famous quote: “I love beauty. It is not my fault.”

Never one for edginess or statement dressing, Valentino’s nearly half-century career stretched from his early days in Rome in the 1960s through to his retirement in 2008.

He founded the house of Valentino on Rome’s central Via Condotti in 1959.

Valentino’s fail-safe designs made him the king of the red carpet, the go-to man for A-listers’ awards ceremony needs.

His sumptuous gowns have graced countless Academy Awards, notably in 2001, when Roberts wore a vintage black and white column to accept her best actress statue. Cate Blanchett also wore Valentino — a one-shouldered number in butter-yellow silk — when she won the Oscar for best supporting actress in 2005.

Dancer Eleonora Abbagnato arrives to pay respects to fashion designer Valentino Garavani, lying in state at the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Alessandro Michele, creative director of Valentino fashion house, arrives to pay respect to fashion designer Valentino Garavani, lying in state at the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

People arrive to pay their respects to fashion designer Valentino Garavani, lying in state at the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Flowers and messages are placed in front of the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti foundation headquarters during the lying in state of the fashion designer Valentino Garavani in Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Giancarlo Giammetti arrives at the lying in state of fashion designer Valentino Garavani at the Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

The coffin of fashion designer Valentino Garavani arrives for the lying in state at the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

FILE - Australian actress Cate Blanchett, wearing a gown designed by Valentino Garavani, arrives for the 77th Academy Awards, Feb. 27, 2005, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)

FILE - Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani walks the catwalk with his models after a fashion show on October 20, 1991 in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File)

Giancarlo Giammetti arrives at the lying in state of fashion designer Valentino Garavani at the Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation headquarters in central Rome, Wednesday Jan. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

FILE - Models take to the runway after the presentation of Italian fashion designer Valentino's Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008 collection, in Paris, Jan. 23, 2008. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon, File)

FILE - Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani looks on during a press conference at Rome's Capitoline museums, Wednesday, June 13, 2007, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Valentino Maison foundation. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

PARIS (AP) — France's sports minister says her country is not currently thinking about boycotting the soccer World Cup in the United States amid growing tensions related to Donald Trump's quest to control Greenland.

“At the moment we are speaking, there is no desire from the ministry to boycott this major, much-anticipated competition," sports minister Marina Ferrari told reporters on Tuesday evening. "That said, I am not prejudging what might happen.”

Ferrari added that she wants to keep sports separate from politics.

“The 2026 World Cup is an extremely important moment for all sports lovers,” she said.

With the tournament kicking off in June in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the U.S. president's ambitions to wrest control of Greenland from NATO ally Denmark has the potential to tear relations with European allies.

In France, leftist lawmaker Eric Coquerel said the opportunity of a boycott by France, a two-time winner of the men's World Cup, should be considered.

“Seriously, can we really imagine going to play the footie World Cup in a country that attacks its ‘neighbors,’ threatens to invade Greenland, undermines international law, wants to torpedo the UN," he asked in a message posted on social media.

“The question seriously arises, especially since it is still possible to refocus the event on Mexico and Canada,” he wrote.

France lost to Argentina in the final of the World Cup in 2022.

In the U.K., the Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, said boycotting the World Cup was not the right option for Scotland, which will feature at the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

“Without being flippant, we have boycotted the World Cup proactively since 1998 and I’m not entirely sure that’s a route that we want to go down again,” Flynn said.

“Instead I think we need serious and committed international dialogue with our allies on the European continent."

On Tuesday a number of MPs called for the home nations to boycott the World Cup. England and Scotland have qualified for the showcase event, while Wales and Northern Ireland are in the playoffs.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - President Donald Trump is presented with the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw at the Kennedy Center, Dec. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, file)