New York, March 17, 2009 – Valentino: The Last Emperor premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York this week, and what a night it was!  Valentino was not acompanied by his ubiquitous pugs, but he wasn’t lonely with a slew of admirers including Gwyneth Paltrow, Anne Hathacway, Claire Danes and Madonna on his arm. 

“Gwyneth is an old, old friend and I like that very, very much.  She’s like my like my daughter, let’s say.  And I’m very happy when I see her with my clothes,” the suntanned designer said at the bash hosted by Gilt Groupe and Quintessentially.

Gwyneth repaid the compliment.   “Valentino is from another time.  He’s from a whole other era where things were made completely differently.  The approach is very different – the attention to detail, the perfection; he’s a real master.  I had the pleasure of going to his atelier and watching him work a couple of times.  Those are memories that I will really treasure.”

Valentino and his longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti denied rumors that they still have a hand in the company’s collections.  “I’m not touching fashion any more,” the designer insisted.  “Valentino and I, we are not involved, we don’t know anything, we don’t go to the shows, we don’t see the clothes before.  There are too many rumors.  We are not involved in any way,” added Giammetti.  And the two don’t really consider themselves retired but rather say they are on to new things.  “It’s not retirement,” Giammetti told us.  “It’s a new chapter in our lives.”

Photos: Caroline Torem Craig & Dennis Van Tine