Italian newspapers and industry sources have suggested former Gucci designer Alessandra Facchinetti is in the running.
Born in 1932 in Voghera in northern Italy, Valentino left his home country as a teenager to study fashion in Paris.
He opened a fashion house in Rome in 1959 with the backing of his father and an associate, who later pulled out because the designer was spending too much money.
Valentino and his long-time business partner Giancarlo Giammetti started a new company and his breakthrough came in 1962.
His return to Rome coincided with the start of an Italian film boom immortalised by "La Dolce Vita" when the comings and goings of actors and starlets were chronicled for the tabloids by motorcycle-riding paparazzi.
