Funny. Elegant. Bitchy. Genius. And totally over the top. That’s Valentino as seen in Valentino The Last Emperor. A great documentary about the career and life—virtually one and the same—of designer Valentino Garavani. A truly touching story about a lifelong friendship and partnernship. A compelling (and convincing) view of the ability of one man to occasionally say “Fuck you” (pardon my English, French and Italian) to the corporate biggies. A story of the victory of creativity and beauty in a world that, more and more, for the sake of money, would snuff them both out and never look back.

Once again, this post defies easy categorization. I’ve put it in “What We Wear/Italy” for obvious reasons even though I myself am still more of a jeans and boots girl (Valentino is much too rich for my blood). But I have to applaud the sheer force of his personality and passion.