Valentino is the new sponsor of the International Booker Prize event

Valentino has formed a new cultural partnership and has been announced as sponsor of the 2024 International Booker Prize ceremony.

The company said the new partnership is “designed to give the world's best storytellers the broad cultural status they deserve.”

The Booker Prizes are the world's biggest literary fiction awards, synonymous with the Oscars or Grammys in the film and music industries, even if the awards ceremonies don't attract the same attention on the red carpet.

Linking up with Booker is not the first such move for Valentino, as he has previously had a long association with the literary world. But she said this sponsorship “strengthens his commitment to advancing global arts and culture.”

For many years, it has “affirmed its commitment to excellent writing by celebrating impactful texts and authors. She has reimagined traditional fashion media through campaigns that honor the authentic beauty of words, as well as launching other multidisciplinary initiatives that link fashion with literature.”

And she has worked with many Booker Prize-nominated authors, including Hanya Yanagihara, Leila Mottley, Elif Shafak and Mieko Kawakami.

The main awards event it is now sponsoring will take place on May 21. The live stream of the Booker International Prize ceremony will be hosted by YouTuber Jack Edwards, who has worked with Valentino for several years.

And we are told that the fashion house's “contribution to the cause of translated fiction will allow the Booker Prize Foundation to raise the profile of the prize.”

The awards have celebrated and transformed the careers of leading international talent and every year the Booker International Prize presents readers to “the best novels and short story collections from around the world that have been translated into English and published in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland.”

Valentino's support will also see 500 games from the award shortlist donated to libraries across the UK through The Reading Agency.

That said, Crankstart, a charitable foundation, remains the main funder of the Booker Prizes.