Italian fashion designer Valentino Garavani died in Rome, the birthplace of his eponymous brand, on Jan. 19 at age 93.

Garavani was born in Voghera, a town south of Milan in northern Italy. He moved to Paris as a young man, where he continued his fashion studies and worked for French designers Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche.

Garavani moved back to Italy and launched his own brand in Rome in 1959, when he was just 26 years old; he soon became known for his elegant, romantic gowns worn by style icons like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sophia Loren, and Princess Diana, and Hollywood stars like Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Garavani’s last fashion show was in 2007, and he retired in 2008. (The documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor chronicles the two years leading up to his final show.)