VALENTINO GARAVANI. /jumbo/

Think Valentino: think luxury. Think elegance. Think red carpet. Fashion’s most beloved upholder of refined decadence and the most exciting couturier in business is known around the globe simply by his first name. Only a few years after opening his fashion house in Rome in 1959, Valentino was already at the height of success, counting Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn among his devotees. Over forty years later, not much has changed—he’s still dressing the top celebrities, from Gwyneth Paltrow to J.Lo, though now his business is a major economic force in Italy and his fashion house is among the most famous in the world.