SINGAPORE.- One hundred pieces of exquisite haute couture designs by Italian maestro, Valentino Garavani, will be featured in a curated exhibition at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) from 22 December 2010 to 13 February 2011. The seven-week long show promises to take visitors into a world of timeless glamour and elegance.

The exhibition – ‘Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future’ – is developed by Paris’ celebrated institution Les Arts Décoratifs, and it will feature haute couture looks from founder Valentino Garavani’s early designs to present-day creations by current Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli.

The Singapore retrospective will take on a Valentino-inspired architectural design by Christian Biecher, the architect in charge of the exhibition design, who belongs to a new generation of architects who has designed civil buildings in France, Japan, China, including a cultural center at place des Fêtes in downtown Paris.

Christian Biecher said: "The work of Valentino is timeless; like some great modern artists, he was able to work on his few aesthetic obsessions, again and again throughout the years, without ever being „out of fashion‟. I wanted to echo a few of these obsessions in the exhibition design I created for this major retrospective; black and white checkerboard, undulating shapes, technical surfaces (i.e. origami) and his everlasting colours of red and pink (drama and love) are the main components of the installation. In order not to compete with the pieces exhibited, the patterns, textures and colours mentioned above are blown up to an architecture scale which rhythm the exhibition space but never blur the vision of the exhibited pieces.”

“Those one hundred pieces - suits, coats, dresses - are presented as the jewels they are, in minimalist glass cabinets which enhance their universal artistic qualities", he said.

Valentino, Retrospective: Past/Present/Future is open to the public daily from 11am –8pm on Sundays to Thursdays and 11am – 11pm on Fridays, Saturdays, eve of public holidays and public holidays. The exhibition will also be open for extended hours 11am – 11pm from 2 – 3 February 2011.

Valentino Garavani, best known by his namesake label – Valentino, is an Italian haute couture designer. He is best known for his perfectionism, creative use of volume, line and texture, as well as the recurring use of motifs such as geometric patterns, graphic prints, pleats, bows and flounces that add shape to each collection. Valentino‟s designs are well known for its distinctive palette of black, white and his signature „Valentino red‟ (Rosso Valentino).

Through his 50-year career, Valentino‟s gowns have been largely untouched by trends, making each of his work timeless and exquisite works of art. His designs have been worn by many well known individuals such as Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy, Julia Roberts and Elizabeth Taylor.

Valentino retired in January 2008 after presenting his final collection at the Musée Rodin in Paris.