Mario Valentino
( number of products: 2 )Mario Valentino
The Mario Valentino brand was founded by a person of the same name in the Italian city of Naples in 1952. At the beginning of his career, Mario was involved in running the company of his father, Vincenzo Valentino, which produced luxury footwear.
The history of the Vincenza company dates back to the last century - the extraordinary quality of the products and their workmanship with attention to detail could not go unnoticed by the Savoyard royal house or the local aristocracy.
Classic elegance under the wing of his son was soon complemented by avant-garde touches, which Mario was able to realize thanks to his freedom to create designs. Not forgetting to cultivate the technical knowledge gained from observing the family business, Mario enriched the original idea with an original art form. He decided to go one step further and start his own brand, which offered not only shoes, but also other leather accessories. However, instead of copying his father's designs, young Mario focused on innovative ideas dedicated to the most daring customers of the time. The controversial nature of the new products has not prevented them from succeeding.
In March 1979, Mario Valentino attended Milan Fashion Week for the first time to present his own collection on the catwalk. The carefully crafted combination of superior craftsmanship and technological innovation quickly resulted in winning customers from the highest echelons. At the height of his career, Mario earned the recognition of the biggest stars of his time. Liz Taylor, Ava Gardner, Marcello Mastroianii and Catherine Deneuve are just some of his devoted clients.
Mario quickly became one of the world's top couture shoe designers. A turning point in his career turned out to be his coral sandals, which were featured on the cover of French Vogue in 1956, and were also featured in the Bally Shoes Museum in Zurich and the Design Museum in Copenhagen. In the years of the brand's greatest success, fashion photographers such as Helmut Newton, Robert Mapplethorpe and Guy Bourdin collaborated with the designer, who managed to create frames that perfectly capture the artistry and creativity of Mario Valentino's designs.
Today, the brand continues the tradition of the finest Italian craftsmanship and modern design, invariably expressing them primarily in handbags and footwear. Mario's son, Enzo Valentino, now oversees the prestige of the brand under the same name. The brand's signature boutiques and showrooms can be found m.in. on the elegant streets of Naples. Sixty years after the brand was given a new vision, Valentino shoes and handbags are still associated with high quality and original design. Although Mario died in 1991, his legacy is still reflected in every carefully selected piece of fabric or perfectly executed stitch, and the brand's designs set the standard in the fashion world.
