VERSACE

The history of the Versace fashion house is a family story. Gianni Versace was born in Reggio Calabria, where he learned the craft in his mother’s tailoring shop from an early age. Moving to Milan to pursue a career in fashion, he became a designer for Byblos in 1973, working there for several years until he decided to create his own fashion house. “Gianni Versace Donna” was established in 1978 with the opening of the first boutique on Via della Spiga in Milan. His older brother, Santo Versace, supported Gianni from the beginning by overseeing the company from a managerial perspective; his sister Donatella Versace joined the company in 1988, taking on the artistic direction of Versus, the brand’s young line. In the following years, Versace achieved great success by presenting a new vision of women. The designer revolutionized the fashion world with unprecedented ideas: the collections represented a glamorous, sexy, and punk woman at the same time. Gianni Versace was the first to experiment with different and contrasting elements in his garments, such as lace paired with leather or studs combined with Swarovski crystals. The pinnacle of his notoriety was reached with the fall/winter 1992-93 collection, dubbed “bondage”: models strutted down the runway in tight black leather outfits studded with spikes and buckles. It was Gianni’s sister, Donatella Versace, who wore one of the collection's dresses at the 1992 Met Gala, making it one of the most famous and provocative looks of the '90s. Another outfit that definitively made the brand internationally renowned was worn by Elizabeth Hurley: the actress accompanied Hugh Grant to the premiere of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” dressed in a black dress with daring cuts held together by gold safety pins with the Versace logo. In 1993, Gianni Versace conceived the logo that has now become the symbol of the Maison, the head of Medusa. He said he was inspired by some Greek ruins where he used to play with his siblings. References to ancient Greece have since been ever-present in Versace’s creations, with prints featuring decorative motifs such as the Medusa head and the Greek key, as well as architectural and sculptural elements. Prints are part of Versace’s DNA, and among the most iconic are the baroque motifs, the treasures of the sea, Vogue covers, and Andy Warhol paintings. In 1992, Gianni Versace moved to Miami, where he renovated Villa Casa Casuarina in the Maison's style: notably, there is a huge Medusa head mosaic on the pool floor. He lived in Florida until 1997, the year of his tragic murder by a serial killer right in front of his residence. After his death, his sister took over the creative direction of the brand and has led it with great success to this day. Donatella's creations maintain the essence of the brand, demonstrating that Versace, while being a fashion giant, has retained a strong family bond. In 2000, it was thanks to a Versace dress that the “Google Images” search function was born. Jennifer Lopez wore a “Jungle Dress” with a tropical print and a plunging neckline to the 2000 Grammy Awards, which became the most popular search query ever on Google the next day: at that time, the search engine did not support image-only search, and this event led to its creation. Versace has not only exported Italian-made creations worldwide but has also helped make Milan one of the world’s fashion capitals.