Why Kim Is A Modern-Day Rothschild

GIANCARLO GIAMETTI has photographed his share of famous and beautiful women - and as such is in an excellent position to understand the public fascination with increasingly accessible stars of television and screen, like Kim Kardashian. Having spent years travelling with partner Valentino - capturing images of the designer and his famous friends, from Elizabeth Taylor to Andy Warhol, now released in his new book, Private - Giametti asserts that some things don't change.

"In society those women in the Seventies and Eighties were the real doyennes of style, today is much more relaxed; people care much less about all this," he says. "You go from [Marie-Hélène] de Rothschild to Kim Kardashian, what 's the difference? There is no difference. Everybody wants to go with her like everyone wanted to go to De Rothschild parties."


Giametti recently spent several weeks in New York - attending the Victoria's Secret show among other things - where we caught up with him following a talk hosted by the Dean of the Fashion School at Parsons, Simon Collins, who interviewed Giametti before an audience of the institute's students, while Valentino himself sat front row. He admitted that after years of capturing beautiful people and witnessing the creation of Valentino's exquisite designs, he has a very pragmatic view of the industry.

"For me personally, it is about the cashier at the end, I am sorry to be so vulgar, " he told us. "I think that is what counts. I don't care about the awards or how many covers of the magazines we have, I couldn't afford an office just with that."