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Giorgio Armani: A Volcanic Paradise
Southwest of Sicily, on the small volcanic island of Pantelleria, which was still deserted twenty years ago, Armani introduced hundred-year-old palm trees brought from the garden of a palace in Palermo. "It was fate that brought me to Pantelleria," says Armani, "I only came to stay with friends. To say it wasn't love at first sight is putting it mildly. I thought the place was wild and dark, almost hostile with its complete lack of vegetation and nothing but rocks for a landscape. It left me cold despite the torrid heat. But gradually I began to see what it had to offer. The sea here is more blue than anywhere else, the air is more pure and heady with fragrance. I fell in love, I suppose, but with that intensity of feeling that comes from loving someone for their faults. I knew I had to come back, so two days before I was due to leave I rushed out and bought a piece of land."

Ferragamo-di San Giuliano: The Leopard's Garden
The Marchese de San Giuliano continues his memories of his late wife, Fiamma Ferragamo, by maintaining this marvelous exotic garden in eastern Sicily. San Giuliano has brought plants from around the world for his garden and patiently acclimatized them, making them even more resistant and solid than they had been in their own habitat. Forty species of palm tree alone testify to the effect of his devotion. The marchese, however, credits the microclimate here, caused by a warm current that passes over the Sicilian coast.

Hermès: A Scarf in the Sky
From street level the railings are barely visible and the only evidence of the plants is the vague outline of branches, but for Jean-Louis Dumas Hermès this small roof garden offers a bit of nature that is deeply appreciated in the heart of Paris. At 24 Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, a gigantic lead horseman waves two scarves before the neighbors' roofs. Despite its diminutive size, the garden includes a large apple tree, a luxuriant camellia, as well as a small lawn and rosemary bushes, all enlivened by impatiens.

Christian Louboutin: Flights of Fancy
Louboutin is never short of invention. His garden has the same aura of fantasy as his shoe collections, teeming with such crazy and occasionally outrageous ideas as his unforgettable dress shoes with red soles. What's really surprising, like everything else that seems obvious in retrospect, is that no one thought of it before him. Louboutin's estate boasts an orchard, vegetable garden, rose garden, labyrinth, numerous breeds of chickens, and peacocks. This wildflower meadow, which Louboutin partly replanted, includes a field of such large flowering annuals as cosmos.

Yves Saint Laurent: The Garden of Allah
The garden of Yves Saint Laurent's Villa Oasis in Marrakesh was originally created by the painter Jacques Majorelle. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that audacious colors abound here: the ocher used in the facade complements the dark red of the bouganvillea, and contrasts nicely with the yellow-bordered green of a voluminous Agave sisalana. The perfect symmetry of the pool and potted plants is given a vague nuance of disorder by its skilfully maintained, opulent vegetation.

Valentino: The Baroque in Nature
The marvelous terraced, espaliered garden at Valentino's home in Tuscany has been reborn through the work of landscape artist Paolo Pejrone. "It's sort of a commedia dell'arte acted out in full sunshine," Valentino says, pointing out the harlequinade of vivid colors created by the citrus fruits in the almost black foliage of the orange and lemon trees.