Mourners paid their respects Wednesday to legendary Italian designer Valentino Garavani, as his coffin went on public display following his death this week aged 93.

Rows of white roses and lilies lined the path into the simple room at Valentino's foundation headquarters where his wooden coffin was laid out, with loved ones sitting on either side.

"It's a perfect, simple, sober homage to not only a talented artist but a 'courteous, splendidly refined' person", said Giulia Carraro, 75, a former personal assistant who moved in his circle.

The designer, who launched his fashion house in 1960, dressed some of the world's most famous women, from Julia Roberts and Sharon Stone to Elizabeth Taylor and Nancy Reagan.

Next to the closed coffin, which was topped by a single red rose, sat Valentino's partner Giancarlo Giammetti, whose business acumen helped elevate the label to global prominence.

Valentino's creative director, Alessandro Michele, who earlier paid tribute to the designer's "rare sensibility", was also in attendance.

Another mourner held one of Valentino's beloved pugs.

Though Valentino loved white, he was perhaps best known for his gowns in a vivid "Valentino red".

"It is a red with the lightest touch of orange and magenta, created after the designer saw a woman in a red dress at an opera in Barcelona and used her as his inspiration", Carraro said.

The designer's coffin is on display for two days at the Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation in Rome's historic centre, ahead of his church funeral in the city on Friday.

Valentino's death comes just months after the passing of another Italian great, Giorgio Armani, and along with flowers left outside the Foundation was a note suggesting the pair would now be designing clothes for angels. (AFP)