“Private”-Giancarlo Giammetti’s New Book -from Madonna to Jackie O

Giancarlo Giammetti-for 45 years the power behind Valentino fashion empire, alongside Valentino Garavani and the one that helped him mint multimillions-met Valentino in 1960, the same year “La Dolce vita” hit the big screen.

“I’ve been taking pictures of friends all my life, and it took two years to archive them — there were 57,000! — it was amazing, and Carlos (Souza, the longtime p.r. chief for Valentino) suggested a book. Also, I started doing Instagram, and it’s been successful — and, no, I haven’t improved at all as a photographer”, Giammetti says.

Giancarlo Giammetti and Valentino in an image from “Private- Giancarlo Giammetti.”

The cover of “Private- Giancarlo Giammetti.”

Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, Capri, 1969

When asked what the book is about Giammetti says: “I talk about my mother, my family and the early days, the moment I met Valentino and how my friends became my family, my tribe — like Carlos and his family and Gwyneth. There’s the retrospective we did at the Ara Pacis in Rome, and the Valentino movie (“The Last Emperor,” 2008) and how society has changed over the past 50 years, the Chateau (de Wideville, Valentino’s home outside Paris) and the red carpet. There are also collages using pages from my diaries. I don’t write much — I do six lines every day.”

“He’s always had his camera with him—often to my annoyance,” says Valentino in the book’s foreword. “Now I realize that thanks to . . . Giancarlo’s persistence, we have the opportunity to enjoy the very special pleasure that only memories can provide.”