My Roman Holiday with Valentino - The Peggy Siegal Company
My Roman Holiday with Valentino - The Peggy Siegal Company
My Roman Holiday with Valentino - The Peggy Siegal Company
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<strong>My</strong> <strong>Roman</strong> <strong>Holiday</strong> <strong>with</strong> Va l entino<br />
Va l e ntino Garavani<br />
and <strong>Peggy</strong> <strong>Siegal</strong><br />
b y PEGGY SI EG A L<br />
p h o t o g raphed by ©PAT R ICK MC MU L L A N<br />
Thursday, July 5th<br />
ARRIVAL DAY: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME<br />
All eyes are on Rome this weekend for a three-day, $10-million celebration of “<strong>Valentino</strong> a<br />
Roma: 45 Years of Style,” an exhibit that encapsulates grace and everlasting beauty. We are<br />
ready to rock ‘n’ roll <strong>with</strong> the 1,000 European aristocrats, movie stars, socialites and journalists<br />
who are descending on <strong>The</strong> Eternal City hell-bent on living la dolce vita.<br />
By noon the group I am traveling <strong>with</strong>—American industrialist David Koch and his gorgeous<br />
statuesque wife Julia, Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, Charlie and Sara Ayers and Brad<br />
Cosimar, the best friend of <strong>Valentino</strong> global PR maven Carlos Souza—check into the fabulously<br />
chic Hotel de Russie, which has terraced gardens inches away from the Spanish Steps<br />
and the 18th-century Palazzo Mignanelli, where <strong>Valentino</strong>’s Louis XIV-style office—and its<br />
26-foot ceilings—a located.
Julia Koch and David Ko c h<br />
Ca r l os So u za and<br />
Hamish Bow l es<br />
Claudia Sc h i ffe r<br />
SEPTEMBER 2007 · AVENUE MAG A Z I N E | 89
In each guest’s room is a wh i te canvas to te from L.L. Bean em broi dered<br />
<strong>with</strong> en dless red Va l en tino logo s , and a note pers on a lly sign ed by our host.<br />
We get a det a i l ed sch edule of even t s , a boo k , avi a tor su n glassesand a go l d<br />
p l a s tic en tra n ce card <strong>with</strong> our name, preferred arrival times at each even t<br />
and the warn i n g, “Sono di ri gore smoking e abi to lu n go.” No one can<br />
get near a red carpet wi t h o ut this gold card , wh i ch is now worth go l d .<br />
Si lver ch a u f feu red Mercedes minivans <strong>with</strong> mu l tilingual guides are<br />
at our beck and call every day. Thu rs d ay aftern oon we visit Th e<br />
Piazza Navona <strong>with</strong> the Fountain of the Four Rivers , <strong>The</strong> Pa n t h eon ,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Trevi Fountain (wh ere we borrow Eu ros from our guide and throw her<br />
m on ey in the water ) , the Ci rcus Ma x i mus (used for ch a riot races in 2 B. C .<br />
and more recen t ly the back d rop for Ben Hu r) , and <strong>The</strong> Vi ctor Emanu el II<br />
m onu m en t , a colossal wh i te marble stru ctu re ded i c a ted to the mem ory of<br />
It a ly ’s first king, who was the gre a t - gra n d f a t h er of Um berto II, the last king<br />
of It a ly and the gre a t - gre a t - gra n d f a t h er of our traveling bu d dy Di m i tri .<br />
Friday, July 6th<br />
10 A.M. SIGHTSEEING: THE ROMAN FORUM<br />
<strong>The</strong> silver Mercedes reappear and take us to the <strong>Roman</strong> Forum. It is hot. It<br />
is crowded. We are tourists, and we love it. We walk to the Colosseum and<br />
pass 40 huge, chalk-white, fiberglass Doric columns rising out of the Temple<br />
of Venus. We realize they are not antiquities but replicas for the party.<br />
We are whisked to the front of the line as a guide announces that Donald<br />
Trump will be attending <strong>Valentino</strong>’s party tonight. (Oddly, a no show.)<br />
1 P.M., LE JARDIN DE RUSSIE<br />
Our group has a quick lunch on the terrace. We tell Judy Taubman, who is<br />
at the next table, that we are going on a private tour of <strong>The</strong> Vatican. She<br />
tells us she has done the tour twice, met the Pope and been to his private<br />
apartment. (She must have a better travel agent than we do.)<br />
3 P.M., A PRIVATE TOUR OF THE VATICAN<br />
We have fussed and discussed our Vatican outfits for days. We are<br />
dressed in tailored suits as our silver chariots drive us past hundreds of<br />
people waiting on line wearing T-shirts and flip-flops. Our guide races us<br />
through Vatican City—the palaces, art gallery, the museum of antiquities,<br />
the map room, and the Sistine Chapel, which is packed like a subway station.<br />
We’re led through a tiny door, down a dark hallway, up some steps<br />
into a room lined <strong>with</strong> closets . . . and I whisper, “Holy macaroni, we are in<br />
the Pope’s robing room.” We can’t believe it. <strong>The</strong> guide begins to take out<br />
the Pope’s undergarments and embroidered r obes. We feel his gold<br />
threads, running our unwashed hands over everything. We are shown all<br />
the jewel-encrusted miters, rosaries, shoes, gloves and chalices. We are in<br />
clothing heaven—and this is before we see a single <strong>Valentino</strong> dress. We are<br />
about to try on the Pope’s skullcap, when Anna Wintour walks in <strong>with</strong> her<br />
daughter, Bee Shaffer, and the Monsignor in charge of ceremonies. Our<br />
guide could be headed straight to hell. We freeze. <strong>The</strong> Monsignor pulls<br />
him aside . . . and miraculously everything is fine. We sign the guest book<br />
and notice Sarah Jessica Parker was there right before us. I think about<br />
putting J.A.P. after my name, but as a guest of <strong>Valentino</strong>, Rome’s most<br />
famous citizen after the Pope, I decide to play it straight.<br />
90 | AVENUE MAG A Z I N E · SEPTEMBER 2007<br />
E l i za b et h<br />
Jagger and<br />
Th e o d o ra<br />
R i c h a rd s<br />
G i a n ca r l o<br />
G i a m m etti and<br />
A l l i son Sa rofi m
Uma Thurman and<br />
P r i n ce Dimitri of<br />
Yu g o l s l av i a<br />
Fa b i o l a<br />
Be ra ca sa<br />
Eugenia Silva<br />
Daphne Guinness, Ka r l<br />
L a g e r feld and Lynn Wya tt<br />
A n d res Sa nto Domingo<br />
and Lauren Dav i s
M a r i ssa<br />
Be re n so n<br />
92 | AVENUE MAG A Z I N E · SEPTEMBER 2007<br />
C l a i re<br />
D a n es<br />
Bi a n ca Brandolini, Co co Bra n d o l i n i<br />
and Eugenie Niarc h os<br />
7:30 P.M. THE EXHIBITION;<br />
VALENTINO A ROMA: 45 YEARS OF STYLE<br />
MUSEUM OF ARA PACIS, VIA RIPETTA<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ara Pacis is the “altar of majestic peace” built in 9 B.C. It is now<br />
housed in a stunning but controversial museum designed by Richard<br />
Meier. (Meier, whose name was on every press release, was oddly<br />
another no show. A week later, he confides to me it was “one of the bigger<br />
mistakes of my life.”) Patrick Kinmonth, the British opera and<br />
stage designer, and <strong>Roman</strong> Antonio Monfreda designed the installation.<br />
Hamish Bowles, European editor at large of Vogue, was the<br />
archival consultant who curated the 300 dr esses. Giancarlo<br />
Giammetti, <strong>Valentino</strong>’s brilliant business partner of 45 years, onetime<br />
companion and confidant, oversaw everything.<br />
Entering the opening night of the exhibition is as thrilling as lighting<br />
the Olympic torch and winning the Oscar for lifetime achievement<br />
at the same time.<br />
We ascend a huge, white marble staircase to be greeted and kissed by<br />
<strong>Valentino</strong> <strong>with</strong> Giancarlo at his side. At 75, <strong>Valentino</strong> is very slender, very<br />
tan, very coiffed, very charming and very, very excited. As he embraces<br />
every guest, he also makes sure the photographer gets the two-shot. We<br />
enter a dark tunnel <strong>with</strong> three tiers of mannequins wearing magnificent<br />
clothes and attached to sky-high walls. Next we are in a sun-drenched glass<br />
box that ironically illuminates evening dresses, which are also juxtaposed<br />
against dark Cyprus trees and a blue sky.<br />
<strong>The</strong> sym bolic cen terp i ece is Va l en ti n o’s wh i te 1990 Pe ace dress <strong>with</strong> the<br />
word pe ace em broi dered in silver in 14 language s . Va l en tino call ed every<br />
embassy to have them fax the correct spelling of “pe ace” in their language .<br />
Red - cl ad , god de s s - l i ke gi l ded mannequins flank ei t h er side of the altar wi t h<br />
t h eir arms out s tretch ed like a ch orus of a n gel s . We de s cend a staircase lined in a<br />
ra i n bow of co l ored gown s . Ch a m p a gne is passed among the worl d ’s most<br />
famous and be a utiful wom en , who are dre s s ed in Va l en tino they ei t h er own or<br />
h ave borrowed . Uma Thu rm a n , Anne Ha t h aw ay, E l i z a beth Hu rl ey, E lle Mc P h ers<br />
on , Claudia Sch i f fer, Cl a re Danes, Eva Men de s , Si enna Mi ll er, Natalia Vod ia<br />
n ova , Corn elia Gu e s t , Anna Wi n to u r, Joan Co llins and 80-ye a r- o l d<br />
Gina Lo ll obri gida are just a few of the impecc a bly<br />
d re s s ed wom en floa ting aro u n d . It is an overl oad of<br />
be a uty. I don’t know wh ere to look t firs t .<br />
<strong>The</strong> ex h i bi ti on also has muslin du m m i e s<br />
em broi dered <strong>with</strong> movie stars names on the<br />
n eck s . <strong>The</strong>se display Va l en ti n o’s most icon i c<br />
Sa rah Jess i ca Pa r ke r<br />
and Matt h ew<br />
B ro d e r i c k
Eva Mendes<br />
cel ebri ty dresses—the ones worn by Au d rey Hepbu<br />
rn , Sophia Loren , Pri n cess Di a n a , Julia Robert s ,<br />
Ca te Bl a n ch ett and Elizabeth Tayl or—and vi deo<br />
m on i tors play mini-movi e s , Oscar accept a n ce<br />
s peeches or just grand en tra n ce s . This is very coo l .<br />
<strong>The</strong> exhibition is open to the public until October<br />
28 and is worth a trip to Rome.<br />
Friday, July 6th<br />
9:30 P.M. OPENING-NIGHT DINNER<br />
TEMPLE OF VENUS, VIA SAN GREGORIO<br />
Since <strong>Valentino</strong> donated $270,000 to the city of Rome, Mayor Walter<br />
Veltroni gave him unprecedented access to <strong>The</strong> Temple of Venus,<br />
an ancient site so sacred that the Pope visits once a year by himself.<br />
Too bad he is out of town this weekend.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 40 fiberglass replica Doric columns we had seen this morning<br />
on our walk through the forum are now glowing from <strong>with</strong>in.<br />
At one end is a brand new gigantic statue of Venus in an enormous<br />
niche. At the opposite end, we see the Colosseum, now<br />
bathed in red lights. <strong>The</strong> panorama is breathtaking.<br />
Va l en tino wanted the dinner to feel as if it were in one of h i s<br />
h om e s , and food was coo ked by his pers onal ch ef . Ren own ed Oscarwi<br />
n n i n g, Italian movie de s i gn er Dante Ferret ti rec re a ted the ori gi n a l<br />
tem p l e . Even the we a t h er, t h eir bi ggest uncon tro ll a ble worry, was perfect .<br />
<strong>The</strong> eve ning originally was planned for 250 gold-card-carr ying<br />
guests, but has now swelled to 500. We dine under the stars on white<br />
couches and chairs situated in living room–like clusters. Former Italian<br />
Premier Silvio Berlusconi sits <strong>with</strong> Princess Caroline of Hanover and<br />
the Shah of Iran’s widow, Empress Farah Diba Pahlavi.<br />
Also dining under the stars are Alexis Bryan, Amy Sacco, Barry Diller,<br />
Lauren Davis and her fiancé Andres Santo Domingo, Wendy Finerman,<br />
E l l e<br />
M a c P h e rso n<br />
Diane von Fu rste n b e rg<br />
and Barry Diller
A n n a<br />
Wi ntour and<br />
Bee Shaffe r<br />
J e n n i fer Creel, Alexa n d ra vo n<br />
Fu rste n b e rg, Ryan Haddon<br />
and Va l esca Guerra n d - H e r m es<br />
G i o rgio Armani<br />
Va l e n t i n o’s friends kiss-kiss and kiss-kiss<br />
each other nonstop all afternoon and<br />
continue to marvel at the magic of last<br />
n i g h t’s magnificent show.<br />
Georgina Chapman and Harvey Weinstein, Graziano De Boni, Hamilton<br />
South, Kate Betts, Jane Sarkin, Annelise Peterson, Valesca Guerrand-<br />
Hermès, Ellen Niven, Mark Gilbertson, Tamara Mellon, Alice Bamford,<br />
Carole Bamford, Bianca Brandolini, Rebecca de Ravenel, Olivia<br />
Chantecaille, Alessandra Borghese, Coco Brandolini, Eugenie Niarchos,<br />
Stefano Tonchi, Christian Louboutin and Rena Sindi.<br />
In front of the Colosseum, a light show and shower of fireworks<br />
explodes in synchronization <strong>with</strong> an opera sung by Maria Callas.<br />
Three acrobatic dancers in flowing , fairy-like red <strong>Valentino</strong> dresses<br />
whirl above the ruins and float like birds on a wire strung across the<br />
Colosseum, which is now lit <strong>with</strong> different colors. A dancer in white<br />
emerges from the ground and ascends into the sky <strong>with</strong> a giant blue<br />
globe balloon that is painte d <strong>with</strong> the word “<strong>Valentino</strong>” repeated in<br />
golden circles. It is a happening of such heavenly beauty that these 500<br />
sophisticated guests are reduced to children squealing <strong>with</strong> amazement.<br />
Only <strong>Valentino</strong> could have made the Colosseum, the very symbol of Imperial<br />
Rome, even more exquisite.<br />
Saturday, July 7th<br />
10 A.M. A PRIVATE TOUR OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA<br />
Pedro Girao a European advisor for Christie’s has arranged a private tour<br />
of the Palazzo Colonna, which was built in the 15th century. Like many<br />
palaces in Rome, the exterior is grand but simple, camouflaging a life
of sumptuousness inside. <strong>The</strong> noble Colonnas plastered their red coat<br />
of arms (a column) on every inch of their possessions. <strong>The</strong>y amassed<br />
one of the largest privately held priceless art collections in the world. As<br />
Pedro patiently explains the history, David Koch, the most inquisitive of<br />
our group, humbly and hilariously admits his entire 25,000-square-foot<br />
Palm Beach Mizner mansion could fit into the Colonnas’ humungous<br />
ballroom.<br />
1 P.M. MARINA PALMA’S LUNCH FOR VALENTINO AT<br />
DAL BOLOGNESE OVERLOOKING THE PIAZZA DEL<br />
POPOLO.<br />
“Va Va”, as the press call <strong>Valentino</strong>, is <strong>with</strong> his models in last minute fittings,<br />
preparing for his couture show, but everyone from his inner sanctum<br />
is here. David Koch and I sit w ith Princess Marie Chantal and<br />
Prince Pavlos of Greece, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Elizabeth<br />
Hurley and her charming new husband Arun Nayar, Lynn Wyatt and<br />
Donald Moore, Marina’s banker boyfriend. Tim Jeffries stops by the<br />
table to announce he just proposed to his model girlfr iend Malin<br />
Johansson the night before, and she flashes her multi-carat ring.<br />
Bob Colacello holds court outside. He is writing a piece for Vanity<br />
Fair and has been scribbling in his notebook f or days. He and VF’s<br />
Wendy Stark amuse Caroline of Monaco, Ernst of Hanover, Allison<br />
Sarofim, Stuart Parr, London decorator Nicky Haslam and Baroness<br />
Helene Ludinghausen.<br />
Susan Gutf reu n d , Ma risa Beren s on , Doris Bry n n er, Fra n cois Ca tro u x ,<br />
Ma rina Ci cogn a , Jacqu eline de Ri be s , D a phne Gu i n n e s s , Ken ny Jay Lane,<br />
Lee Rad z iwi ll , Be a tri ce and Julio Ma ria Sa n to Dom i n go, Rei n a l do Herrera<br />
, Ro s i t a , Du chess of Ma rl boro, and Pri n cess Ira von Fu rs ten berg are<br />
just a few of Va l en ti n o’s devo ted and loyal fri ends at the lu n ch . Th ey<br />
kiss-kiss and kiss-kiss each other non s top all aftern oon and con ti nu e<br />
to marvel at the magic of last nigh t’s magn i f i cent show.<br />
This is the day <strong>Valentino</strong> asks his women to change their clothes<br />
four times, and they could not be happier. We start <strong>with</strong> the cool<br />
casual breakfast/shopping/sightseeing outfit, move into the daytime<br />
chic lunch ensemble, change into a late afternoon cocktail<br />
dress for the show, and once more redo ourselves head to toe,<br />
pouring our bodies into ball gowns for the gala—my idea of a<br />
perfect day.<br />
5 P.M. PRESENTATION OF THE FALL-WINTER<br />
2007/08 COUTURE COLLECTION<br />
COMPLESSO MONUMENTALE S. SPIRITO IN<br />
SAXIA, BORGO S. SPIRITO 1<br />
Once again, those silver Mercedes bring us to another spectacular<br />
venue for the couture show: a restructured 16th-century<br />
medieval building, the Complesso Monumentale of<br />
Santo Spirito in Sassia, originally used as a convent and a<br />
stone’s throw from the Vatican.<br />
Dante Ferretti, Federico Fellini’s and Marty Scorsese’s<br />
Oscar-winning set designer, has lined the endless walls<br />
<strong>with</strong> a vast photo retrospective of <strong>Valentino</strong>’s blackand-white<br />
advertising and editorial images, evoking<br />
the look of a massive art gallery.<br />
Tory Bu rch and<br />
L a n ce Armst ro n g<br />
MR. VALENTINO’S<br />
TABLE<br />
■ Mr. <strong>Valentino</strong> Garavani<br />
■ Ministro Francesco Rutelli<br />
■ Uma Thurman<br />
■ HRH Prince Pavlos of Greece<br />
■ HIM <strong>The</strong> Shahabanou of Iran<br />
■ SAR la Pcesse Caroline de Hanovre<br />
■ Karl Lagerfeld<br />
■ Anna Wintour<br />
■ Sindaco di Roma Walter Veltroni<br />
■ HRH Princess Marie Chantal of<br />
Greece<br />
■ SAR le Pce Ernst de Hanovre<br />
■ HRH Princess Rosario of Bulgaria<br />
Tom Fo rd<br />
Zac Posen and<br />
M a rg h e r i ta<br />
M i sso n i
O l i v i a<br />
C h a nte ca i l l e<br />
C h r i stine Sc hwa rz m a n a n d<br />
Stephen Sc hwa rz m a n<br />
Reinaldo Herre ra and<br />
Ca rolina Herre ra<br />
Arun Nayar and<br />
E l i za b eth Hurley<br />
We need to show that gold ID card to get in . . . society to the<br />
white gallery, press to the black gallery. One thousand famous<br />
people, still kissing each other, eventually settle into three rows<br />
that are a mile long.<br />
<strong>The</strong> clothes <strong>Valentino</strong> sends down the runway are as explosive<br />
as the fireworks from the night before. <strong>The</strong> opulent<br />
and vibrant evening gowns are bedecked <strong>with</strong> enough jewels,<br />
feathers, beads and bows to wow even the most blasé<br />
red-carpet paparazzi.<br />
Equally impressive is the line-up of <strong>Valentino</strong>’s colleagues<br />
in the front row, which indicates his enormous<br />
popularity. Sitting next to each other are Diane von<br />
Furstenberg, Zac Posen, Manolo Blahnik, Tom Ford,<br />
Donatella Versace, Giorgio Armani, Philip Treacy, Carolina<br />
Herrera and Karl Lagerfeld, whom <strong>Valentino</strong> has<br />
known for 52 years.<br />
At the finale, everyone jumps to their feet and wildly<br />
cheers as <strong>Valentino</strong> strides down the runway behind his<br />
models. He is wearing an immaculate white fitted suit and has<br />
his arms in the air like a conquering gladiator. He is crying.<br />
9:30 p.m Gala Dinner<br />
GALLERIA BORGHESE-VIA PINCIANA<br />
<strong>The</strong> lobby of the Hotel de Russie is clogged <strong>with</strong> swans in<br />
<strong>Valentino</strong> ball gowns—Julia Koch in white, Sara Ayres in red,<br />
Marie Chantal in pink, Anne Hathaway in black, Jennifer<br />
Hudson in brown and Sarah Jessica Parker in gold.<br />
Senator and jet-set racounteur Mario D’Urso spontaneously<br />
drives me over to the Villa Borghese and gives me a tour of the Galleria<br />
Borghese museum <strong>with</strong> its Caravaggios, Canovas and Bernini<br />
sculptures. He introduces me to every noble Italian in Italian—which<br />
is a little scary. We stroll through the gardens into a vast, Chinesethemed,<br />
tented dining room designed, once again, by Dante Ferretti<br />
and built especially for the evening—complete <strong>with</strong> tufted<br />
ceiling, palm trees and lacquered red and black walls, recreating<br />
the exotic glamour of Shanghai in the 1920s.<br />
During dinner, snippets of the cinema verité documentary<br />
on <strong>Valentino</strong> are shown. <strong>The</strong> documentary was produced and<br />
directed by Matt Tyrnauer, a veteran VF journalist. He has<br />
been globetrotting for two years, filming <strong>Valentino</strong>’s life of<br />
“art, beauty and love” on the designer’s 152-foot yacht and in<br />
his five homes: Rome, London, Gstaad, Paris and Manhattan.<br />
Tyrnauer describes his film as a celebration of the “last<br />
emperor of haute couture.”<br />
<strong>Valentino</strong> then makes a very short speech to everyone who<br />
has shared his unforgettable weekend, “I love you, all of you,<br />
very much.” Chanteuse Annie Lennox, wearing her first<br />
<strong>Valentino</strong>, sings Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), and<br />
Mick Jagger, fresh from his sold-out performance the<br />
night before (attended by Lance Armstrong and Tory<br />
Burch) jumps up on the dance floor . . . along <strong>with</strong> Uma<br />
Thurman, Rupert Everett and the girls in red: Claudia Schiffer,<br />
Sienna Miller, Natasha Richardson and Lynn Wyatt in a 25-yearold<br />
gown. Claire Danes snakes her tight body around Hugh<br />
Dancy’s tight body as they dirty dance the night away.
D o n a te l l a<br />
Ve rsa ce and<br />
Ru p e rt Eve rett<br />
At the finale, eve ryone jumps to<br />
their feet and wildly cheers as Va l e n t i n o<br />
strides down the runway <strong>with</strong> his arms in<br />
the air like a conquering gladiator.<br />
Also celebrating are <strong>Valentino</strong>’s American boyfriend since<br />
1982, Bruce Hoeksema; <strong>Valentino</strong>’s and Giancarlo’s god-children, Sean<br />
Souza and his brother Anthony along <strong>with</strong> their dad Carlos and mom<br />
Charlene de Ganay; Nati Abascal and her son Duque de Feria; Lita, George<br />
and Stavros Livanos; Lord Charles Spencer Churchill; Carolina Herrera,<br />
Jr.; Prince and Princess Pierre d’Arenberg; Count and Countess Ravenal;<br />
HRH Princess Firyal of Jordan; Eugenia Silva and A lejandro Santo<br />
Domingo; Eugenia and John Radziwill; Baronne Silvie de Waldner;<br />
Stephen and Christine Schwarzman; Giles Bensimon and Diana Widmaier<br />
Picasso; Margherita Missoni; Charlotte and Andrea Casiraghi (Princess<br />
Caroline’s gorgeous children); Glenda Bailey; Pamela Fiori; Patrick<br />
McCarthy; André Leon Talley; Fabiola Beracasa; Jennifer Creel; Rachel<br />
Zoe; Delphine Arnault Gancia; Taki <strong>The</strong>odoracopulos; <strong>The</strong>odora<br />
Richards; Georgia and Elizabeth Jagger.<br />
In the end, <strong>Valentino</strong>’s only disappointment is missing Gwyneth Paltrow,<br />
who smashed her knee tripping over furniture and is on crutches in<br />
her East Hampton home, and Meryl Streep, who sent her husband Don<br />
Gummer and their daughter Mamie. <strong>Valentino</strong> had a cameo in <strong>The</strong> Devil<br />
Wears Prada and became very friendly <strong>with</strong> Meryl, but she is stuck in<br />
Stockholm preparing to film the hit Abba musical, Mamma Mia!<br />
Well, mamma mia, <strong>Valentino</strong>! His lucky friends will reminisce for years<br />
to come about this extraordinary event. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but<br />
<strong>Valentino</strong> transformed it in three. Bravo <strong>Valentino</strong>! ✦<br />
MR. GIAMMETTI’S<br />
TABLE<br />
■ Giancarlo Giammetti<br />
■ Diane Von Furstenberg<br />
■ Mick Jagger<br />
■ L’Wren Scott<br />
■ Shelby Bryan<br />
■ Suzy Menkes<br />
■ Rupert Everett<br />
■ Donatella Versace<br />
■ Matthew Broderick<br />
■ Sigra Franca Sozzani<br />
■ HRH Prince Kyril of Bulgaria<br />
■ Sarah Jessica Parker<br />
Cornelia Guest<br />
SEPTEMBER 2007 · AVENUE MAG A Z I N E | 97