Valentino Exhibit Opens in London

If you plan to be in London between now and March 3, 2013, make room in your schedule for the brand new exhibition celebrating the life and work of Italian couturier Valentino Garavani. Valentino: Master of Couture opens at the Somerset House on Nov. 29.

The exhibit features 130 of the designer’s haute couture gowns and is dedicated to the man and his career, which has spanned over 50 years. The exhibit will include the black and white gown worn by Julia Roberts when she won her Oscar in 2001, the red gown Anne Hathaway wore to the 2011 Academy Awards and Jackie Onassis’s wedding dress from 1968.

Julia Roberts in vintage Valentino at the 2001 Academy Awards

The exhibition has three main sections. The first room offers insight into the designer’s world, featuring correspondence, couture show invitations and photographs of Valentino.

The second is The Catwalk, inviting visitors to walk along 50 meters of runway while looking into an “audience” of mannequins dressed in Valentino creations.

In the third section, visitors will see the pearl-encrusted silk wedding gown, made with 10 types of lace for the New York socialite Marie-Chantal Miller and her marriage to the Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece in 1995.

The exhibition concludes with rooms devoted to Valentino’s newest venture, the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum, and behind-the-scenes films revealing of the couture techniques required to craft a Valentino gown.

At top: Anne Hathaway at the 2011 Academy Awards

Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum