Valentino Clemente Ludovico GARAVANI, the creator of the eponymous Italian fashion house Valentino, was born in 1932 in Voghera, in the province of Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. He became interested in fashion while in primary school in his native Voghera, Lombardy, northern Italy, when he apprenticed under his aunt Rosa and local designer Ernestina Salvadeo, an aunt of noted artist Aldo Giorgini. Valentino then moved to Paris to pursue this interest with the help of his mother Teresa de Biaggi and his father Mauro Garavani. There he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. His first choice for an apprenticeship, in Paris, was Jacques Fath, then Balenciaga. He found an apprenticeship with Jean Dessès where he helped Countess Jacqueline de Ribes sketch her dress ideas. He then joined Guy Laroche for two years. In 1960 Valentino left Paris and opened a fashion house in Rome. He remained the creative director of the house until 2008. On 4 September 2007, Valentino announced that he would retire fully in January 2008 after presenting his last haute couture collection.