White everywhere. White flowers, white walls, white light — and a silence thick with emotion. Rome said goodbye to Valentino Garavani in a setting that reflected the essence of his life and work: refined, timeless, suspended between beauty and memory.

At the Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, more than five thousand people filed past the open casket to honour the designer who turned elegance into a calling. Long-stemmed white roses, scented lilies and a delicate floral installation crowned the coffin. “Red would have been inappropriate,” said Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino’s lifelong partner and business companion, who welcomed the hearse together with Vernon Bruce Hoeksema. On the casket, a single red rose. Nearby, the designer’s beloved pugs, Moon and Maude.

Italy’s institutions paid their respects. Rome’s mayor Roberto Gualtieri, Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli and Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè were among those present. “He gave so much to this city,” said Gualtieri. Funeral services will be held tomorrow at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri.

Fashion paid tribute as well. Maria Grazia Chiuri remembered him as “paternal, generous, a man who created a family.” Alessandro Michele, current creative director of Valentino, called him “a magical being, now pure mythology.”

In the condolence book, one line captured the collective feeling: “Eternal, like Rome.”