Sneak Peek: Glamorous New Valentino Exhibition in London

If you love fashion or can at least appreciate the artistry involved in haute couture, you don't want to miss this new show which opens tomorrow at Somerset House in London. Valentino: Master of Couture celebrates the illustrious 50-year career of Valentino, the legendary Italian designer who's dressed such style icons as Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn.

The show will be divided into three sections with visitors starting their journey into Valentino's world through previously unseen photographs from his personal archive. Then, the upstairs gallery has been transformed into a 60-meter catwalk where a staggering 130 exquisitely crafted Valentino haute couture gowns will be on display in the UK for the very first time. The clever reverse catwalk makes you the model while the audience members are the ones dressed in stunning Valentino couture.

The last and final section gives us a look into the painstaking process of crafting couture as exemplified by the intricate wedding dress of Princess Marie Chantal of Greece. Made with ten different kinds of lace, it took 25 seamstresses over 4 months of solid work to create.

Now, courtesy of Somerset House, here's a sneak peek of what you can expect to find at the show which opens November 29 and runs through March 3, 2013.

Above: Valentino Garavani and Natalia Vodianova, 2012 © Cathleen Naundorf

Valentino with models, 2007 © Lorenzo Agius @ www.aandrphotographic.co.uk


Valentino Garavani and Natalia Vodianova at Musée Nissim de Camodo in Paris, 2011 © Kevin Tachman


Valentino with models, 2007 © Lorenzo Agius @ www.aandrphotographic.co.uk


1992 1993 Fall Winter HC Black velvet evening dress white ribbons © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum Worn by Julia Roberts to the 73rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, 25 March 2001, at which she won Best Actress for Erin Brockovich


1995 Spring Summer HC Romantic evening gown silver grey silk © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum


1998 Spring Summer HC Ivory hand-painted evening gown © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum


2002 2003 Fall Winter HC embroidered oriental dress © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum


2002 2003 Fall Winter HC Floral print taffeta evening outfit © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum


2002 2003 Fall Winter HC romantic Valentino Red taffeta evening gown © Valentino Garavani
Virtual Museum Worn by Anne Hathaway to the 83rd Academy Awards in Los Angeles, 27 February 2011


2005 Spring Summer HC Boldini-style chiffon white evening dress © Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum

Valentino: Master of Couture at Somerset House