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)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump was booed loudly by fans inside Madison Square Garden when he was shown on video screens during the national anthem prior to Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night.

Trump was shown for several seconds giving a military salute. The boos ended when the U.S. flag followed him on the screens, and fans cheered when New York Knicks players were shown. Mentions of the San Antonio Spurs also elicited loud boos.

Trump is watching from Knicks owner James Dolan’s suite, along with granddaughter Kai, personal adviser Boris Epshteyn and Cabinet secretaries Lee Zeldin, Sean Duffy and Doug Burgum. He is the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals game.

Trump’s Marine One helicopter flew from his home in New Jersey and landed near Wall Street before his motorcade made its way up through Manhattan and to the arena roughly an hour before tipoff. He encountered a handful of people making rude gestures, and outside the area, one group held signs saying “Trump must go.”

He settled into Dolan's suite shortly afterward.

During the afternoon before Trump's arrival, the New York Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service set up a large perimeter surrounding Madison Square Garden. Fans lined up to get inside the arena more than four hours before tipoff, in a scene more closely resembling New Year’s Eve in Times Square than the usual leadup to a basketball game.

They were required to provide a ticket or pass to get past various checkpoints, along with going through a Transportation Security Administration-style magnetometer. Secret Service personnel and police were positioned at every corner and in large numbers. Daily commuters, tourists visiting Manhattan and fans were all confounded at various times as they tried to maneuver the security.

After traveling from his new home in Florida for the game, Knicks fan Greg Weldon said the main inconvenience faced so far has been the lack of information.

“We’ve asked so many cops, secret service, guys with machine guns, what to do, where should we go,” he said. “Nobody knows.”

Knicks coach Mike Brown and Spurs counterpart Mitch Johnson downplayed any concept of being inconvenienced by the closures and enhanced security because of Trump.

“There’s a lot going on, and I’d much rather be a part of it than not,” Johnson said.

With security stepped up, a watch party outside was canceled, and ticket-holders were not allowed to bring bags inside the Garden. Fans had gathered near the arena to watch games during this playoff run, during which the Knicks have won 13 games in a row to reach the final for the first time since 1999 and move two victories from their first NBA title since 1973.

“We are looking forward to bringing back watch parties for Game 4,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Monday. "But I think New Yorkers are used to presidents coming to town, and they understand that that generally means lockdowns of areas and that’s what you’re going to see tonight at the Garden.”

This is the latest major sporting event Trump has attended during his time as president, and the security measures have created major hassles for fans.

Thousands of fans missed the start of last year’s U.S. Open men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner because of lengthy security lines. Even though the U.S. Tennis Association pushed back the start of the match by a half-hour, many fans still couldn’t get in because added measures meant that they had to go through screening not only when they arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center but again in front of the steps into Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Trump watched from a suite.

Federal law enforcement officials have been reexamining Trump’s security in light of three incidents in the past two years: a shooting at a 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania; the discovery of a man armed with a rifle as Trump played golf in West Palm Beach, Florida, later that year; and the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

Asked Sunday his thoughts on Trump attending, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson said: “Cool, I guess. We can still get out there and play (no matter) who’s here and who’s not.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other dignitaries were also at the game.

It was already hard enough for Knicks fans to get inside Madison Square Garden because of astronomical ticket prices. The get-in price for a ticket is higher than the average cost of monthly rent in New York, surging over $5,000. The best seats are tens of thousands of dollars. Mamdani said he bought his ticket, which he said was standing-room-only, for about $1,000 directly from Madison Square Garden.

The difficulty of seeing the game in-person has prompted fans to crowd bars, streets and watch parties all over the city. The watch party near the Garden has become a major event all through the playoffs, but with Trump attending, that event was moved a few blocks away outside the security perimeter, at Bryant Park.

“We improvise,” said Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, who is a New York native. "We're New Yorkers. We’re going to find a way to watch a game, and that’s what we’re doing.”

AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report.

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

U.S. Secret Service agents and a U.S. Marine brace against the downdraft as a support helicopter lands before Marine One with President Donald Trump aboard, at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Pier 6 in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump gestures during the National Anthem as he attends an NBA Finals playoff basketball game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, with Kai Trump, left. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump gestures during the National Anthem as he attends an NBA Finals playoff basketball game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, with Kai Trump, left, Knicks owner James Dolan and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, right. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

NYPD officers escort the motorcade of President Donald Trump outside of Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

New York Knicks fans wait in line to enter Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Secret Service agents stand guard in front of Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

The motorcade of President Donald Trump arrives to Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series, Monday, June 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

A Secret Service agent stands watch outside Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Security fencing is set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Security is set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

FILE - President Donald Trump, center, attends the men's singles final at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, Sept. 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

A traveler tries to navigate the area as stringent security measures are set up outside of Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026, as President Donald Trump is set to attend Game 3 of the NBA Finals basketball series between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

FILE - Donald Trump, right, talks to an unidentified man from the stands at Madison Square Garden during the New York Knicks game against the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 11, 2006, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

President Donald Trump speaks at Custer Farms in Chippewa Falls, Wis., Friday, June 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Glen Stubbe)