Valentina Sanina Schlee (1899-1989) – known professionally simply as Valentina — was a fashion pioneer, clothing such luminaries as Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Cornell, and Mrs. Randolph Hearst and helping to invent American couture in the process. Hers was the quintessential New York success story: she arrived in the city as a young immigrant and reinvented herself as the epitome of style and glamour, becoming a fixture in the fashion pages and a major celebrity in her own right. Valentina: American Couture a... Read more

Valentina Sanina Schlee (1899-1989) – known professionally simply as Valentina — was a fashion pioneer, clothing such luminaries as Greta Garbo, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Cornell, and Mrs. Randolph Hearst and helping to invent American couture in the process. Hers was the quintessential New York success story: she arrived in the city as a young immigrant and reinvented herself as the epitome of style and glamour, becoming a fixture in the fashion pages and a major celebrity in her own right.

Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity is the first exhibition to trace the career of this legendary designer and features never-before-exhibited gowns, accessories, photographs, and printed matter from the collections of the Museum of the City of New York, the Valentina family, and other major collections.

Valentina had an unwavering view of personal style and once declared, “I hate fashion!” implying that while trends often bullied women, true style was immutable. She also advised “Fit the century, forget the year.”

Never before exhibited examples from the designer’s personal couture collection and other ephemera will be on view, as well as original silver and platinum photographs of her designs by Cecil Beaton, Horst S. Horst, George Hoyningen-Huene, John Rawlings and others. Additional highlights of the exhibition are drawn from renowned public and private collections including the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum at FIT, the Brooklyn Museum, and the substantial holdings of the Museum of the City of New York.