Historical Figure
Gianni Versace
d. 1997
Italian fashion designer (1946–1997)
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Biography
Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace was an Italian fashion designer and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Whitney Houston, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur, Joan Collins and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world. He and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene. The place where he was born and raised, Reggio di Calabria, greatly influenced his career.
Timeline
The story of Gianni Versace, told in moments.
Launched his first collection in Milan. Bold colors, chain-mail metal mesh, baroque prints. Fashion critics didn't know what to make of it. Buyers did.
Designed the costumes for the Capella Sansevero ballet and dressed Elton John, Princess Diana, and most of the supermodels. He put Naomi, Cindy, Linda, and Christy in the same campaign and paid them enough to make it worth their time.
Elizabeth Hurley wore the Versace safety-pin dress to the Four Weddings premiere. It was held together by gold Medusa pins. Versace sent it to her because no one else would lend her a dress.
Shot on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by Andrew Cunanan. He'd walked to a nearby cafe for magazines that morning. He was 50.
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