If you haven’t seen Valentino: The Last Emperor yet — I know I say this a lot, but — you REALLY need to go see the screening of it at MoMA on Thursday. It’s one of the only movies I’ve seen recently that had me wrapped up the whole time. Did I mention Valentino will be there with the film maker for a post screening Q&A.

One of the world’s most celebrated fashion designers, Valentino Garavani developed an interest in design as a teenager and entered the world of haute couture in the early ’50s, working under Jacques Fath, Balenciaga and Jean Desses.

In 1959, Valentino opened his own house of fashion in Rome, and he soon became one of the leading lights in European design, known for his trademark shade of red and his clean, stylish lines. With Giancarlo Giammetti, who has been Valentino’s business partner and significant other since 1960, the designer built an empire that remained one of the most prestigious in the fashion world until Valentino announced his retirement in the fall of 2007.

Filmmaker and journalist Matt Tyrnauer, who has written about Valentino for Vanity Fair, examines the public and private lives of the fashion icon. Granted unprecedented access to Valentino’s home and office, the film offers an unusual look at his relationship with Giammetti, how his creations are made, his lavish lifestyle, and how changes in the world of haute couture have impacted him.

For more info on Thursday’s screening, click here. If you can’t make it, you can get the film on DVD from Film Forum for only $22. I got a copy. Well worth it!