Mario Valentino - Ornella Cirillo

Established in 1952 in Naples (where the headquarters are still located),
Mario Valentino is a leading brand in the leather sector and a legendary
manufacturer of shoes, accessories and clothing. Its history dates to the early
1900s, when Mario's father, Vincenzo, a highly professional artisan, made his
first shoes with the "Valentino" brand, praised by the Savoys, local
aristocrats and famous international celebrities. In his small shop in the heart of Naples, his son Mario learned the secrets to
create elegant, customized shoes. Right after the war he made a name for
himself and opened his own workshop. After success in fashion shows in Rome and
in the United States, in the early 1970s his business flourished; since then,
on the crest of notoriety and expertise, he moved into prt--porter, a field
where artisan tanning skills meet the rules of haute couture and where leather
takes on unexpected forms. From the late 1960s through the 1980s, top models
like Verushka and Ashley Richardson contributed to the brand's success and
photographers like Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Avedon, Mimmo Jodice, Helmut
Newton and many others decreed the design philosophy of Mario Valentino as a
true art form. This publication, which offers precious documents collected in his archives
and a description of the most important moments in the history of fashion,
recreates this intense and extraordinary adventure, with the goal of
recognizing the debt of this "enlightened Neapolitan" to his land and outlining
that "yet unwritten part" he played with skilful creativity in "Made in Italy"
businesses.