Valentino haute couture exhibition opens in London

The Associated Press, Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 9:52am (PST)

LONDON (AP) — A new exhibition celebrating the life and work of legendary fashion designer Valentino is opening in London.

The exhibition at Somerset House showcases over 130 handmade Valentino designs worn by the world's most glamorous women over the past 50 years, from Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly and Jackie Onassis to Gwyneth Paltrow and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Valentino, whose full name is Valentino Garavani, is now 80 and retired from the fashion house he founded in 1960.

The exhibition, which opens Thursday, focuses on haute couture — exquisite gowns and outfits that took hundreds of hours of painstaking work to create.

Highlights include a pearl-encrusted wedding dress worn by Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece in 1995 and the velvet black-and-white gown worn by Julia Roberts to the Oscars in 2001.