Valentino Remembered: How ‘The Last Emperor’ Ushered in the Fashion Film Era

How “Valentino: The Last Emperor” ushered in the fashion film era. Elle magazine steps into a new Hollywood role. Isabel Wilkinson Schor shares West Coast ambitions for her brand Attersee. Bella Hadid gives a new meaning to the thirst trap in Ryan Murphy’s new vanity project, “The Beauty.” And Louis Vuitton and Bulgari host dueling Rodeo Drive parties.

Valentino and the Dawn of the Fashion Film Era

At first, Valentino Garavani, who died earlier this week at age 93, hated Matt Tyrnauer’s 2009 film, “Valentino: The Last Emperor.” So much so that he went to war with the director for six months, threatening not to show up for the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival — and to sue.

Of course, all was forgiven after the audience’s standing ovation at the debut. Although the film isn’t available on a major streamer right now, I found it on Vimeo. In my opinion, it’s still one of the best fashion documentaries of all time because the director — not his subject — had creative control.

The film illustrates how Valentino lived a life as lavish as those who wore his clothes and obsessed over every detail. Ahead of a party at his French chateau, his household staff are seen painting brown patches of the lawn green. His five pugs have a row to themselves on the designer’s private plane.

His atelier didn’t even have a single sewing machine because everything was done by hand, reflecting the artistry of the haute couture tradition he reigned over for nearly 50 years as creative director of his brand. But there are tantrums — lots of them.

Best of all, the film exposes the tender and tempestuous relationship Valentino Garavani had with his business and romantic partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. Their tiff over using sand dunes as a set for a Paris fashion show is priceless.

“After decades of controlled press and image-crafting, they revealed a more authentic side of themselves, and the crowds loved it,” Tyrnauer wrote in Vanity Fair this week, recalling the experience. 

(Fashion should take note: real and relatable can resonate, too.)

The film was challenging from the start. When Tyrnauer, a Vanity Fair contributor at the time, was shopping the project, most of what he heard was that fashion docs always fail. So he financed it himself, and even after it opened to good reviews, he had to self-distribute.

Still, coupled with R.J. Cutler’s successful doc “The September Issue,” which also debuted in 2009, “The Last Emperor” spawned a whole new genre of fashion films. Today, fashion and film are inextricably linked, with Saint Laurent, Chanel, Miu Miu and Kering among the brands that have supported or produced titles with big budgets and small, some about the fashion industry and some not.

Garavani had a lifelong love of Hollywood. He was named after the actor Rudolph Valentino and credited “Ziegfeld Follies” with cultivating his interest in fashion as a teen. Elizabeth Taylor was the first major star to wear his designs, discovering them while filming “Cleopatra” in Rome. She became a lifelong friend, along with many other Hollywood bold faces, including Gwyneth Paltrow, who presented Valentino with the Outstanding Achievement Award at The Fashion Awards in London in 2023 and wore his designs on the red carpet many times.

The “Marty Supreme” actress shared a wonderful Instagram post about his death, along with a photo of herself kissing the designer’s cheek. She wrote: “I was so lucky to know and love Valentino — to know the real man, in private. The man who was in love with beauty, his family, his muses, his friends. His dogs, his gardens, and a good Hollywood story. I loved him so much. I loved how he always pestered me to ‘at least wear a little mascara’ when I came to dinner. I loved his naughty laugh.”

Paltrow added, “This feels like the end of an era. He will be deeply missed by me and all who loved him. Rest in peace, Vava.”

Elle Lands a Plum Role 

The Actor Awards have found a fashion partner.

The show announced an exclusive deal with Elle, bringing the SAG-AFTRA event together with the media title for the March 1 ceremony.

It could help raise the profile of The Actor Awards and its red carpet, which have long played second (fifth or sixth?) fiddle to the Globes, Oscars, Grammys and Emmys. The collaboration reflects the growing influence fashion has on shaping Hollywood culture. Following the Penske Media Corporation-produced Golden Globes, it raises the question of whether media partnerships will become the new norm for awards shows.

Expect more classic Hollywood looks at The Actor Awards, because as part of the partnership, Elle has set the red carpet dress code, or theme: “Reimagining Hollywood Glamour from the ’20s and ’30s.” The Hearst-published Elle will also have a presence on the red carpet and host the post-awards gala.

“As The Actor Awards continue to evolve for a global audience, partnering with Elle allows us to elevate fashion as a central part of the show’s creative expression,” said Jon Brockett, showrunner and executive producer of The Actor Awards. “It’s an opportunity to align the red carpet, the show and the culture around it into a single, cohesive moment.”

For Elle, the deal builds on its longstanding relationship with Hollywood, including its annual Elle Women in Hollywood issue and event, which first debuted in 1994.

“Elle has a long history with Hollywood, and we have always championed both emerging talent and established stars,” said Nina García, Elle’s editor-in-chief. “Our vision of fashion is forever intertwined with what we see onscreen, so I’m thrilled that Elle is joining The Actor Awards as its first-ever fashion partner. We’re excited to bring our distinct editorial point of view to an event that celebrates creativity, craft and the power of storytelling.”

The collaboration will extend beyond the ceremony to exclusive editorial coverage, digital content and joint storytelling. The 32nd Annual Actor Awards, presented by SAG-AFTRA, will stream live globally from L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium exclusively on Netflix.

Attersee Looks West

Fashion editor-turned-designer Isabel Wilkinson Schor’s vision for wearable luxury has never looked better.

In four years, her label Attersee has built a wardrobe of timeless, elevated essentials that are easy to wear, designed to last and serve as an accessible alternative to brands like The Row. Nothing is priced over $2,500, despite the high-quality fabrics and beautiful pieces on offer.

“It was the feeling of anguish getting dressed every day,” Schor said of the impetus for the brand, which is sold online, at in-person trunk shows and through a handful of specialty stores. (And that’s coming from a fashion editor.) “It was always, ‘What’s the weather? What are my meetings? Is this too fancy?’ The outfitting we’ve created here has hopefully made it simpler.”

Core styles include sculpted tailoring, like the sexy—but not overly so—Cecily jacket; fluid viscose blazers and trousers; buttery-soft cashmere-silk T-shirts that are everyday workhorses; and swingy, oversized button-down shirts and sleek cigarette pants that transition from day to night and serve as a canvas for great jewelry. The line also features a few more out-there editorial pieces, like sheer crochet fringe-knit skirts.

Accessories are a growing category, including the Fashion Substack–loved duchesse satin Brea bags and braided tassel belts, which routinely sell out as soon as they drop online.

Schor already has a growing fan base of L.A. professionals, Hollywood executives and gallerists. (Her parents, Eileen Guggenheim Wilkinson and Russell Wilkinson, are both in the art world, as is her aunt, Barbara Guggenheim.) Celebrities have been wearing Attersee, too, including Julianne Moore, Katie Holmes and Jennifer Lawrence.

Now she’s zeroing in on the L.A. fashion community. Last week, for the first time, she brought her spring collections to Sunset Tower to preview them for local editors, stylists and friends.

“We are staying away from occasion with a capital O, but we’ve seen an uptick in requests for casual carpet, press, talk shows and junkets,” she said of her celebrity strategy. “Stylists want to see the clothes in person, so we thought, why not?” she adds, pulling from the rack a cream-washed silk-nylon sarong skirt and oversized shirt with black polka-dot embroidery, which would be fantastic to wear on a morning show.

The pre-spring collection that just launched introduces subtle color into the mostly neutral Attersee mix, blurring the lines between tech-y and pretty with pink-quartz washed silk-nylon button-front shirts, drawstring skirts and pants; alongside great-looking chalk-white canvas workwear pants and jackets, and the bestselling cashmere-silk knits in the striated colors of the American Southwest.

In 2023, Schor opened a gorgeous, art-filled, by-appointment showroom on Madison Avenue in New York, which has since become a retail store. She’s looking to the West Coast, her second-biggest market outside New York, for her second store.

“Through doing trunk shows around the country, I have been lucky to get to know so many women who tell me what they want. It’s inspiring in the design process to be clued into what cuts they are interested in, and I think we have something for a wide demographic in terms of body and age, with figure-hugging knits, sheer shirts and things with more coverage,” she said. “My hope is it will resonate.”

Dueling Rodeo Drive Parties

Maude Apatow, Ryan Destiny and others toasted the newest chapter of Bulgari at the jeweler’s sparkling new Rodeo Drive store Jan. 15. 

The Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy–owned Roman maison hosted VIP clients and celebrities for a first look at Vimini, the inaugural line from the Bulgari Eternal project, which mixes vintage and contemporary styles.

Apatow wore what Bulgari calls the heart of the new collection, the Vimini bracelet, which reimagines the 1942 original with a golden wave that wraps the wrist. She paired it with Vimini drop earrings and a matching ring. Destiny also chose the Vimini bracelet, styling it with the coordinating ring and necklace.

Continuing the dialogue between past and present, Bulgari also displayed a selection of archival jewelry at the party. At its center was the 1942 bracelet that inspired Vimini — a piece influenced by the industrial design of its era and the ancient Greco-Roman art of weaving willow branches into wicker baskets, or “vimini” in Italian.

Phoebe Dynevor, Joshua Jackson, Paris Jackson, Lauren Wasser, Dree Hemingway, Eli Roth and others sipped champagne and swayed to the music on what may now be the best-looking roof of them all on Rodeo, while Kaytranada and Kim Gordon spun DJ sets.

The Bulgari Eternal exhibit will remain on view at the Rodeo Drive boutique through Feb. 22, 2026. 

Meanwhile, across the street at the Louis Vuitton Men’s boutique, Pharrell Williams and Wes Anderson were in the house in spirit, if not in body, with the Spring 2026 revival of the custom animal print designed by the director for his 2007 “Darjeeling Limited” film looming large on the walls and on the racks.

Artists Kohshin and Delfin Finley, Fai Khadra, Jordan Huxhold, Zack Lugo, Ashley Scarrott and others in the influencer set came out to celebrate the collection’s arrival in store and to primp and pose in front of massive LV trunks at the foot of the grand staircase.

They browsed (and livestreamed) bomber jackets, denim, sneakers, leather duffels and more showcasing the Anderson print, and “the multi-faceted sensibilities of present-day Indian sartorialism: cloths, cuts, colors and craftsmanship conditioned by a connection to city, nature and the vitality of the sun,” according to the brand’s description of the collection.

How did the parties stack up? Star meter: Bulgari. Atmosphere: the fab roof edged out the Wes Anderson wallpaper. Snacks: In a taste test of baby potato caviar bites, it was Bulgari for the win again.

Ryan Murphy’s Latest Vanity Project

The latest in the body-horror genre, Ryan Murphy’s “The Beauty,” now streaming on Hulu, assembles a curious cast including Jeremy Pope, Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, Isabella Rossellini and Ashton Kutcher.

Bella Hadid gives “thirst trap” a new meaning in the FX show’s opening scene, going berserk on a Balenciaga runway, attacking someone in the front row, beating paparazzi and tearing through the streets of Paris on a motorcycle — all while wearing smoking-hot red leather, one of many killer costumes designed by Paula Bradley.

Well, fashion week can be hell. Take it from me.

The “catwalk carnage” sets the tone for the bloody thriller, which involves seriously beautiful people and locations, sex, sadism and an STD that delivers the promise of model looks.

There’s more insider fashion stuff (the Condé Nast cafeteria is involved) that will make those in the know chuckle. Still, I doubt it will rise to the level of cultural resonance of “Heated Rivalry,” where no magic potion is needed.

Forwarded this newsletter?
Subscribe here to get WrapStyle directly every week!

Have a news story for our readers? Please email [email protected]

Interested in partnership opportunities? Please email [email protected]

The post Valentino Remembered: How ‘The Last Emperor’ Ushered in the Fashion Film Era appeared first on TheWrap.