The Valentino: Master of Couture exhibition at London's Somerset House was co-organized by Valentino himself, who selected over 130 dresses for the exhibition. This companion book focuses as much on Valentino and his glamorous lifestyle as it does on his legendary dressmaking techniques and atelier. With unprecedented access to Valentino’s archive, the book feels like a personal album and gives the viewer access to the designer's unique life. The selected visual material includes personal photographs of and by Valentino and his close circle (often with glamorous women such as Jackie O., Elizabeth Taylor, Lee Radziwill, and the like) in his art-filled homes and at social events. The catalog also includes two photographic portfolios by Deborah Turbeville and Cathleen Naundorf, showing Valentino at work. A number of dresses in the exhibition sprinkled throughout the catalog rounds out this intimate look at the life of a design legend.

• Hardcover, 112 pages
• by Valentino (Author), Alastair O'Neill (Author), Patrick Kinmonth (Author); Claire Catterall (Editor)