F: Is for Fashion Adieu's

Icon's are people who significance represent our cultures, who have left their mark on a society. After 45 years the fashion world prepares to bid farewell to Valentino Garavani. By his stepping down from the fashion world it is the end of an era. Once telling The New Yorker, “There are many things you have to do in life, but you cannot ignore the roses. When they demand to be seen, one simply has no choice but to go to them.” He could have been speaking about the women he dresses as well as the roses. “I like them both,” he says. Training under Guy Laroche he moved to Rome and became the dresser of Hollywood royalty from Elizabeth Taylor to Gwyneth Paltrow. "He was really one of the first to have the collaboration between designer and celebrity," said George Simonton, professor of fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Recognizing the value of celebrity endorsements, Valentino famously designed the dress that Jackie Kennedy wore for her 1968 wedding to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. "You definitely see that he puts a woman on a pedestal. He absolutely adores women, he loves glamour and he loves beauty and that's his whole life," he said. "There's not anyone like him that's still going to be on the scene." "Val's Gals" - as his clients are known - will miss the fashion maestro who kept them romantic and timeless visions of beauty and helped them term the word, chic. "Without question, he's one of those inspired and inspiring designers who's kept women personally intrigued and enthralled by the fashion world these past 22 years."Valentino's final collection will be unveiled on January 23 in Paris.

Though America is in love with "Project Runway" it is a F.A.C.T. that Valentino was truly an original and his creativity will be missed.