Valentino was my dear friend — he made my wedding dress, changed my life and taught me about true friendship

Tamara Mellon’s life was forever changed when she was first introduced to the late, legendary fashion designer, Valentino Garavani, 26 years ago.

At the time, a recently-engaged Mellon, co-founder of luxury footwear brand Jimmy Choo, was juggling work and plans for her dream wedding — and her big day was taking a back seat to her demanding job.

But while working the Oscars back in 2000, she bumped into Carlos Souza, a member of Valentino’s inner circle and his head of public relations — and the pair began chatting about her upcoming nuptials.

“I said, I don’t have a dress yet,” Mellon recalled to The Post. “He said, ‘You have to get on a plane and go to Rome right now.'” Valentino, Souza assured, would be happy to help her out — in a way most women could only dream of.

“He … saved me. I was so busy working, so busy organizing everything else … the last thing I did was find a dress,” she said.

At first, she remembered the icon fussing that he didn’t have “enough time to do all the tulle and the lace that takes so many hours to hand-embroider.”