Valentina (fashion designer)

Valentina
Valentina in 1947
Born	Valentina Nicholaevna Sanina Schlee (1899-05-01)1 May 1899 Kiev, Ukraine
Died	14 September 1989(1989-09-14) (aged 90)
Years active	1928-late 1950s
Spouse(s)	George Schlee (1921-1964; his death)

Valentina Nicholaevna Sanina Schlee (1 May 1899 – 14 September 1989), simply known as Valentina, was a Ukrainian émigrée fashion designer and theatrical costume designer active from 1928 to the late 1950s.

Schlee was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. She was studying drama in Kharkov at the outbreak of the October Revolution in 1917. She met her Russian financier husband, George Schlee (died 3 October 1964), at the Sevastopol railway station as she was fleeing the country with her family jewels; there is some question as to whether they were legally wed.) George Schlee is best known for his 20-year friendship with film star Greta Garbo. The Schlees arrived in New York City in 1923 and became prominent members of café society during the Roaring Twenties. Valentina "stood out" for her clothes and style at the time because she appeared in floor-lengths and cover-ups while other women wore short skirts and low-neck dresses."

Schlee opened a small couture dress house, Valentina's Gowns on Madison Avenue in 1928. Her first stage commission was costumes for Judith Anderson in 1933's Come of Age. The costumes were better received than the play, and established her reputation as a designer for the stage. Schlee dressed such actresses of the era as Lynn Fontanne, Katharine Cornell, Greta Garbo, Gloria Swanson, Gertrude Lawrence, and Katharine Hepburn. Her Broadway successes included the costumes for the stage version of The Philadelphia Story. She also dressed prominent New York society women including members of the Whitney and Vanderbilt families. In 1950 Valentina also introduced a perfume, "My Own".