Valentino, Italy's fashion king who pursued beauty at every turn, dies at 93

Best known as just Valentino, the designer's creations -- many of them in "Valentino red" -- were worn by the who's who of the international elite, from Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Nancy Reagan to Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts and Gwyneth Paltrow in recent years. "I love a woman who eats food, who has a body, that is a woman and not a stick," he said, quoted in The New Yorker in 2005, and underscoring his preference for sensual, figure-hugging designs. "Valentino transported his audience to his world, where women in bubble gum pink cocktail dresses swing bags made of feathers and have high heels tied with satin ribbons and bows," said celebrated fashion critic Suzy Menkes in her write-up of the show in the New York Times.