Valentino 'sorry' over Hoffman funeral branding

A publicist for Italian designer Valentino has been forced to apologise after spruiking photos of a celebrity carrying one of its newest bags at the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman in New York.

The photos of Hoffman's The Master co-star, Amy Adams, were taken outside his wake on Thursday and subsequently emailed to journalists, the New York Post reports.

"We are pleased to announce Amy Adams carrying the Valentino Garavany Rockstuf Duble bag from the Spring/Summer 2014 collection on Feb 6 in New York," Valentino's publicist, Upasna Khosla, wrote in the email.

A spokeswoman for the Italian brand has since apologised and said it was an "innocent mistake".

"We sincerely regret releasing a photo to the media this morning of Amy Adams with a Valentino bag," Mona Swanson said.

"We were not aware the photograph was taken while she was attending the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was an innocent mistake and we apologise to Ms Adams who was not aware, or a part of, our PR efforts."

However, the shots sent by the publicist were taken by photo agencies Getty and Zumapress – both had captions saying the photos were taken at Hoffman's wake.

"Amy Adams is not a paid spokesperson for Valentino and the suggestion she would use this moment to participate in a promotion is truly appalling," a spokeswoman for Adams said.

Source: New York Post
Author: Emily Crane, Approving editor: Martin Zavan