{"id":254845,"date":"2026-01-20T20:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/254845\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T20:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T20:16:08","slug":"valentino-tried-to-stop-documentary-valentino-the-last-emperor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/254845\/","title":{"rendered":"Valentino “Tried to Stop” Documentary ‘Valentino: The Last Emperor’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tValentino<\/a>: The Last Emperor<\/a>, Matt Tyrnauer<\/a>\u2019s gimlet-eyed documentary<\/a> about the luxurious world of Valentino, the legendary Italian couturier who died this week<\/a> at age 93, was released in 2008. And now, many many fashion<\/a> docs later \u2014 it\u2019s hard to think of a designer or brand that hasn\u2019t had one \u2014 the film is still considered among the greatest.<\/p>\n

\n\tBack in 2004, when Vanity Fair editor Matt Tyrnauer was initially sent to Rome to interview Valentino and business\/life partner Giancarlo Giammetti, Tyrnauer was not even a fashion writer: \u201cI was always an outsider to fashion, I still am,\u201d Tyrnauer admits. \u201cBut when VF gave the assignment, I knew a lot about Rome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhy did the famed Roman duo give the young Tyrnauer so much access \u2014 not just to their company, but their many homes, entourages, pugs, etc. \u201cI think they liked I was a young gay American who knew Rome. After the film came out, the Italian news started running headlines: \u2018Valentino comes out as gay.\u2019 It was understood then, but never spoken about. In the end, I think Valentino was glad it came out. It\u2019s a relationship that lasted 65 years.\u201d Wasn\u2019t there a break-up somewhere along the way? \u201cThere was no breakup,\u201d Tyrnauer recalls. \u201cThey were always partners. Sure, there were others \u2014 boyfriends came and went, entourages, too. But Valentino and Giancarlo built that entire business together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore the VF interview (which came out in 2004) was even finished, Tyrnauer had asked them if they would participate in a film. \u201cThey immediately said, \u2018yes.\u2019 I think they thought of it as another marketing opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe over-the-top luxury of their lives is one of the things that makes the doc so iconic. \u201cI\u2019d studied Rome,\u201d explains Tyrnauer. \u201cTheir headquarters at Piazza Mignanelli in the Piazza di Spagna is a big looming presence, with a gold V over the Palladian arch. I was expecting great, but nothing prepares you for their lifestyle. Even the office was sort of papal. The Mayor of Rome once said, \u2018In Rome, there\u2019s the Pope and there\u2019s Valentino.\u2019 But I love Gianni Agnelli\u2019s line in the film about the white gloved servants, the pug entourage, the furniture: \u2018I live like a king, but Valentino lives better than me. And I don\u2019t know how he does it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was one thing to have access to Valentino HQ, and another to travel around Valentino\u2019s various homes and apartments. \u201cThere were Botero paintings in the office,\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut you went to their home, you were surrounded by Picassos, Cy Twomblys, Andy Warhols, even Richard Prince paintings. My mind was blown, blown. And then, the d\u00e9cor \u2014 opulent is an understatement. They\u2019d worked with all the great architects, from Renzo Mongiardino to Jacques Grange to Peter Marino. They lived in a kind of cocoon of style that was really unmatched. Giametti was a business genius. They had sold the company, got it back, did this three times. They were very early with marketing, early to ready-to-wear. They were really business pioneers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTyrnauer didn\u2019t go into the project with that imposing title in mind. \u201cI never come up with the titles of my films till the last minute. This popped into my head one day. At first, they didn\u2019t like it. Of course, they didn\u2019t have any editorial control over the film; I had complete control. It was essential. They fought me tooth and nail \u2014 trust me, they had opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThey also had opinions when they first saw the film. \u201cThey tried to stop it,\u201d Tyrnauer admits. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a puff piece; I\u2019m a journalist. It was much more revealing than they wanted it to be. They were seen bickering, which they did \u2014 that was all real. It wasn\u2019t the commercial for them they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe couple weren\u2019t sure they even wanted it released till it debuted at the Venice Film Festival in 2008 with a standing ovation. Next week, it played Toronto and got another one. \u201cThen Oprah Winfrey devoted a full show to the film. It wound up playing for months on end in movie theaters around the world \u2014 a big sleeper success. Then they embraced it. When it played Venice, Valentino was in the balcony. He stood up, took a long bow during the long-standing ovation. They he cried and immediately changed his mind about the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSince then, Tyrnauer has gone on to make well-received documentaries<\/a> on Roy Cohn, Studio 54 and the Reagans among other subjects. \u201cIt\u2019s really Valentino that started my filmmaking career,\u201d he confides. \u201cI was very lucky to get that assignment. It changed my life. And it actually changed his.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDid Valentino ever spill the dirt on the many iconic ladies he dressed? \u201cHe adored Jackie Kennedy. You know, she started his career. Gloria Schiff [Vogue editor, socialite, philanthropist] told me she and Jackie were playing tennis one day and Jackie was in a mood. She said she had nothing to wear. Gloria told her a young Italian designer was in town showing his new collection. Jackie attended and bought the whole collection. That\u2019s when Valentino became a household name. Later on, Valentino did his famous collection all in white. Jackie wound up wearing one of those gowns to her wedding to Onassis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWere there any designers the maestro admired or completed dismissed? \u201cHe was friends with Karl Lagerfeld \u2014 very good friends,\u201d notes Tyrnauer. \u201cIn the part of the film at Valentino\u2019s retirement party [in 2008], Lagerfeld leans into him and whispers, \u2018Outside of us, everyone else makes rags.\u2019 Valentino was also fond of Saint Laurent. But the only other designer he thought was talented was [the late] Alber Elbaz [of Lanvin]. He thought Alber was the next great designer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tI asked Tyrnauer, who had stayed in touch with Valentino, how the couturier felt about the designers who succeeded him at his namesake brand. \u201cHe loved Pier Paolo (Piccioli) and Maria Grazia (Chiuri) \u2014 they\u2019d worked under him, of course. About Allesandro Michele [the current Valentino designer, known for maximal adornment] I really don\u2019t know. But I can tell you this: Valentino always said: \u2018I do not like a messy girl!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Valentino: The Last Emperor, Matt Tyrnauer\u2019s gimlet-eyed documentary about the luxurious world of Valentino, the legendary Italian couturier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[900,1050,93,1424,61,60,127113,270,127114,66986],"class_list":{"0":"post-254845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-documentaries","9":"tag-documentary","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-fashion","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-matt-tyrnauer","15":"tag-movies","16":"tag-the-last-emperor","17":"tag-valentino"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}