by Haley Cullingham

Fashion, fierceness, and the funniest bickering Italian couture moguls still standing.

Everything about Valentino, The Last Emperor, is lavishly elegant. There are no apologies, no grand rationalizations. No analysis of the meaning of couture. And that is because the subject of the documentary, Valentino Garavani, embodies an era when elegance made no apologies.

The documentary follows the Italian King of Couture in his last year designing for the legendary fashion house. Centred around his 45th anniversary party outside the Roman Coliseum, the film follows Valentino and his business partner, old friend, and sometimes lover Giancarlo Giametti through a circus of fittings, fashion shows, fabulous parties, and calling each other fat. While the movie is straight fashion porn, and couture fans will find a million reasons to leave the theatre drooling over the clothes, it is Valentino’s relationship with Giancarlo that gives the movie its heart. The obvious love between these two men, and the bickering, mocking, and true respect in their relationship, defines the complicated nature of the word ‘partner.’

The protaganist and those who surround him, including Andre Leon Talley and Karl Lagerfeld, are rendered with humour, honesty, and respect. The audience is let into Valentino’s show room and boardroom, and we see, behind the scenes, the painstaking dedication it takes to craft a couture gown, and the heartbreaking realities of conglomerate politics. As the film progresses, Valentino reminisces about dressing icons like Jackie O., revisits some of his favourite gowns to display at the anniversary celebration, and bickers with Giancarlo about everything from the cafe where they first met to the sand dunes at a runway show. The documentary is hilarious, and a little heartbreaking, as we watch a genius of fashion, the last real couturier, try to hold on to the company he created from the ground up. And the fashion, old and new, is breathtaking. This is a documentary that will make you laugh, swoon, and get a little teary: fabulous.