Farewell to Valentino

(NEW YORK) Carlos Souza's remarkable career at Valentino has come to a fashionable and formidable end. The Italian house's vice president of worldwide public relations, not to mention Valentino's right-hand man, VIP and celebrity liaison, and an international icon in society and fashion realms, quietly vacated Valentino's New York offices a week before Christmas. Souza's contract at Valentino, where he worked for over 20 years, was due to expire on January 1 and he did not negotiate for a renewal. His last day was December 18 and his position will not be filled.

It is understood that Souza, who moonlights as a jewelry designer under the label Most Wanted Design, will be on hand at Valentino's farewell couture show on Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Musée Rodin in Paris. He is not expected, however, to be present for newly appointed Valentino designer Alessandra Facchinetti's first ready-to-wear show in Paris in March.

Also exiting Valentino following the January couture show is Daniela Giardina, the house's longtime director of global communications based out of Rome.

Souza, who some in the industry have speculated might be looking to start his own public relations firm, first met Valentino and business partner Giancarlo Giammetti in 1973 when he was 18 years old and living in Rio de Janeiro. The duo are godfathers to Souza's two sons, Anthony and Sean. As a testament to the close bond that Souza has with Valentino and Giammetti, the latter, in an August 2004 Vanity Fair article, said, "this family has stayed together because of me, because when Valentino gets mad he cuts--that is that. I remember when Carlos left and moved to Brazil and married Charlene. Valentino refused to speak to him, but I always talked to Carlos. Then one day Carlos called and said he had a baby boy, Sean. I handed the phone to Valentino, and he started to cry and cry."
JIM SHI