Fashion locations: Valentino Garavani's Chateau de Wideville

A few kilometers away from the capital of fashion and taste stands a majestic castle that seems to come out from a fairy tale. Château de Wideville is the French residence of Valentino Garavani, an Italian designer who needs no introduction. After splitting his powerful brand in half and selling it partly to Fondo Permira (owned by the Qatari royal family) and Gruppo Marzotto, Mr Valentino retired from the fashion stage in 2008. While his eponimous brand is implementing a new communication and aesthetics remaining faithful to its creator under the supervision of Pierpaolo Piccioli, Garavani spends more time than usual in his French castle, where the design is worthy of the unmistakable elegance of the designer and is characterized by the encounter between Italian design and chinoiserie, Chinese style interpreted by classical Europe of 1800. An incredibly sophisticated atmosphere reigns supreme in the property, once stage of big parties and events, which also hosted a family and friends wedding party of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in 2014 (yes, it really happened). Let’s discover together design details and curiosities about Château de Wideville, one of the favourite houses among its many possessions of Valentino Garavani.

Historical notes

Built in the heyday of the French court by order of the Prime Minister, the castle was built in the Louis XIII style, with red bricks, white quoins and 2 chimneys. Château de Wideville was the home of one of the many maitresse d'amour of King Louis 14, Madame de la Vaillere, then became for centuries an hereditary noble property and finally was made a majestic jewel of classical design and rococo by interior designer Henri Samuel in synergy with Mr Garavani has carefully chosen the mood of each space of the castle, after the purchase in 1995. From the kitchen to the wonderful Winter Garden, Valentino loves the peace of his summer paradise and especially the green space of about 300 acres that surrounds him, where he usually walks and admire his more than 1000 varieties of roses.

Design between East and West

With 8 bedrooms, a dovecote used as a pliving pavillion and several reception rooms, the castle is really like those of fairy tales but here typical nineteenth-century French decor mixes with details of imperial Chinese aesthetics. Flowers are protagonists of Château's decor: they bloom on wallpaper, wall paintings, quilted sofas and on porcelains, making front-garden rooms even more luminous and welcoming. Golden reliefs, paintings that echo the Asian Empire, faces of the Qi-Wang dynasty decorate the walls of the dovecote, an area with a tower structure in which the synesthesia between France and China is truly evident. The details of cabinets, floor chairs, sideboards and sofas decorated in gold with bold patterns and graphic contrasts, are inspired by the Shanghai of 1920. A long wooden spiral staircase with carvings erected by a metal structure painted yellow and vibrant green composes ancient Chinese symbols for an extremely oriental style. " It’s quite harmonious," says the designer.  In addition to his passion for Asia, Valentino could only realize his main passion in his home, fashion. In the barn of the castle the designer has built an extremely minimal and technologically advanced archive that glorifies its 5 decades of activity.

Valentino and tablescaping

Before it became a trend, Mr Garavani was already on the crest of the wave with the tablescaping. He loved to give great receptions in which he meticulously cared for the mise en place, from dishes to cutlery to glasses and any other kind of decoration of great class you can imagine on a table. Blame to his passion for all delicate and precious things, the dishes of the table of Chateau de Wideville are strictly Mottahedeh Chinese porcelain, precious collectibles and faithful reproductions of historical design. Iconic is the Meissen porcelain swan collection, with which Valentino decorates his sumptuous guest tables of high rank during the private events. But also precious wine containers in crystal and Russian coral, Fabergé decanters finished in silver and tablecloths in elegant and precious linen and refined fabrics make the tables of the castle a dream for the eyes but also for the palate.

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