Italian designer Valentino reveals regrets in retirement interview

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2008

ROME (AFP) — The Italian fashion designer Valentino confided Monday his biggest regret was not grooming a successor to take over his couture empire, as he prepared to mount his final catwalk show in Paris this week.

The 75-year-old high-fashion guru retires after 45 years in the business with a swansong show on Wednesday at the Rodin Museum.

"My biggest regret? Not having the time, or perhaps the desire, to shape a young person ready to inherit my place. And if I didn't do that, it's because I'm too focused -- the idea of passing on the baton never really appealed to me," he told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

"What I'll miss will no longer being able to draw, but certainly not the world of fashion. That world is spoilt. Everyone does the same...