When you are next setting your table for dinner you can think, what would Valentino do? Fashion designer Valentino Garavani shares his settings inspirations, which usually include objets d'art, rare china, and flowers from his garden.
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As American Vogue fashion editor and friend André Leon Talley writes in the introduction to Valentino: at the Emperor's table, "he designs his luncheons and dinners, in all of his homes, the way he has created crescendos and allegros vivace throughout his forty-plus-year career as one of the greatest haute couture designers and high-fashion leaders in the world."
Valentino's table settings and recipes are specific to each of his homes. A flan au chevre may be served on Portuguese porcelain at his chalet in Gstaad, while in London his orientalist dining room is themed with blue and white china.
His chalet is one of Valentino's oldest homes. In this Alpine setting, with wonderful mountain views and spectacular skiing, he has a tradition of spending Christmas and New Year here with a close group of friends.
His exquisite table settings here often feature his favourite nineteenth century Messian swans (above).
The constellation of faiences, tureens, and barbotines displayed in lit shelves in the dining room, surrounded by red roses and Irving Penn photographs, create a comfortable environment. The relaxed atmosphere in this Swiss mountain retreat, with rooms panelled in old, local pine, evokes a casual dining nook.
One typical chalet table setting is his large faience tureen in the shape of a lettuce from the late eighteenth century, alongside a German porcelain tureen in the shame of an asparagus, echoed by the green rims of the fluted glasses.
Valentino founded his eponymous fashion house in Rome in the late 1950s and has designed for the world's most glamorous women, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Valentino: at the Emperor's table is available through Assouline
