Women’s Wear Daily on Wednesday revealed Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti as the 2025 recipients of the WWD John B. Fairchild Honor.
Presented annually at the WWD Honors gala, the John B. Fairchild Honor celebrates individuals whose creativity, vision and careers have left an enduring impact on the global fashion industry. Past recipients have been Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Leonard Lauder, Miuccia Prada, Tommy Hilfiger, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Brunello Cucinelli.
This year’s award will be presented live on Oct. 28 at the WWD Honors dinner, held on the opening night of the WWD Apparel & Retail CEO Summit in New York City. This year’s summit also will celebrate WWD’s 115th anniversary, with special recognition for the 2025 list of 115 Fashion and Beauty Newsmakers and Originals.
“As WWD celebrates its 115th anniversary, it is more important than ever to recognize the creative and business leadership that continues to shape and define the industry,” said Amanda Smith, chief executive officer of Fairchild Media Group. “This year’s John B. Fairchild Honor celebrates the power of both legacy and innovation, and Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti’s partnership is a testament to the ability to continue to create significant connections with new audiences time and again.”
“Valentino Garavani’s artistry and vision have consistently redefined elegance and glamour, making him a true icon whose influence spans generations, and someone whom Mr. Fairchild admired and respected immensely,” dubbing him “The Chic,” added James Fallon, chief content officer of WWD and Fairchild Media Group. “His unique ability to blend timeless sophistication with innovative design has left an indelible mark on haute couture, ready-to-wear and menswear. Alongside him, Giancarlo Giammetti’s strategic genius and business acumen built a global empire around that creative vision. Their collaborative legacy is not only groundbreaking design, but brilliant business leadership, and that is the foundation for true magic.”
WWD dubbed Garavani The Chic in light of the sophisticated femininity of his designs, but also given his own stylish, impeccably tailored clothes — sharing with Giammetti the look and a dreamy lifestyle, with beautifully decorated houses in Gstaad, London, New York and the Château de Wideville, outside Paris. They have collected artworks for decades and several of these masterpieces are on display at the first exhibition of the Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti in Rome alongside 50 iconic Valentino designs — all in red — spanning five decades. The color red is indeed a brand signature, but the couturier famously showed a celebrated all-white collection in 1968.
That year, Jacqueline Kennedy wore Valentino’s ivory georgette and lace minidress when she married Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis on his private island, Scorpios. She was one of the designer’s loyal clients, who ranged from Marella Agnelli, Brooke Astor, Nancy Reagan and Nancy Kissinger, to Marie-Helene de Rothschild, Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren and European royalty such as Queen Maxina of Holland and Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece. As the brand developed globally, it became a favorite with Hollywood A-listers, too, from Uma Thurman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Scarlett Johansson to Anne Hathaway and Julia Roberts, who famously wore a vintage Valentino receiving her Academy Award for “Erin Brockovich.”
Valentino Garavani’s first couture studio opened in 1959 and his ready-to-wear collection launched in 1970. His haute couture bowed in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in 1989. He and Giammetti retired in January 2008 after the brand’s final couture show, when it was owned by the equity fund Permira. The brand has been owned by the Qatar-based Mayhoola for Investments since 2012.