The Private GG is not a subtle vessel—but then again, neither is the man it is named after. Built in 2022 by Italian shipyard CRN and measuring 170 feet long, the yacht was designed by Omega Architects, with a sleek interior by Massari Design, according to Yacht Buyer. She accommodates up to 10 guests across five staterooms, along with nine crew members, and comes equipped with a jacuzzi on the sun deck, an upper-deck cinema saloon, and a beach club with a steam room at water level.
The boat belongs to Giancarlo Giammetti, the cofounder of the Valentino fashion house and the decades-long business and romantic partner of Valentino Garavani, the iconic Italian couturier who died in January at age 93. (The yacht shares his Instagram handle.) Giammetti was in Venice for the Biennale opening, posting to Instagram a collection of photos of artworks, and a shot of him, actress Salma Hayek, and her husband François-Henri Pinault, the owner of luxury firm Kering and one of the most famous art collectors in the world, at dinner. Perhaps Hayek and Pinault cruised into Venice courtesy of Giammetti?
Giammetti is a serious collector, as was the late Garavani. Garavani sold his Jean-Michel Basquiat painting El Gran Espectaculo (The Nile), 1983, for just over $67 million at Christie’s in 2023—well above its $45 million estimate—after 18 years in his private collection. Giammetti, meanwhile, sold his own Basquiat, In This Case (1983), in 2021 for $93 million, almost twice its estimate. Garavani was also reported to be selling art in the New York auctions this past November, including pieces by Warhol, Marilyn Minter, and Neo Rauch. Garavani also collected works by Richard Prince, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and Fernand Léger, according to a 2010 Vanity Fair profile of his New York apartment.
Last year, Giammetti and Garavani opened an exhibition space in Rome, PM23, named after its address at 23 Piazza Mignanelli. It is run by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti.
