Gianni Versace

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Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (born December 2, 1946 in Reggio Calabria , † July 15, 1997 in Miami Beach ) was an Italian fashion designer and founder of the Versace fashion company .

biography

Early years

After Gianni Versace graduated from high school in 1964, he studied architecture and worked in his mother's tailoring business. After successfully completing this training, he worked as a fabric buyer in his family's company . Over the years, Versace established numerous business relationships with well-known manufacturers and supplied many companies and outfitting houses with fabrics from abroad. In 1968 he decided to work as a freelance fashion designer for major Italian fashion manufacturers.

Work as a designer

Versace dress with characteristic geometric patterns and bold colors

In 1972 he moved to Milan to work as a designer for Callaghan and the emerging brand Genny , which he made a significant contribution to making. Three years later he had great success in the USA with his first leather collection for Complice . In 1978 Versace went into business for himself. In the same year the fashion retailer Albert Eickhoff held Versace's first major fashion show in Lippstadt, Westphalia . In 1979 he had his first ready-to-wear show. In the same year the first Versace boutique opened in Milan. He caused a sensation with unusual material combinations such as silk / jute , leather / crepe de chine . He was the first to put jeans on the catwalk. Bright colors and eye-catching patterns shaped his fashion.

In the 1980s, Versace celebrated its international breakthrough as a fashion designer. Many creations from those years featured the face of Medusa - it eventually became his trademark and later part of the company logo. For the first time in 1982 he designed stage costumes for the ballet Josephs Legende .

At the premiere at Scala , a friend introduced him to the model Antonio D'Amico, who was born in southern Italy in 1959 and grew up in Milan. Over time, the friendship grew closer. When D'Amico returned from a job in Japan, Versace told him that his previous relationship had ended and that he wanted to get to know him better. They remained partners until Versace's death, with a brief separation a year later due to an affair with Versace. Versace and D'Amico were open about their relationship. When Interview magazine wrote an article about Versace, it insisted that D'Amico should also be featured in the photographs. D'Amico was his constant companion at galas, at premieres and premiere parties. Later he was responsible for the sports line in the company.

After 1982, Versace regularly took on equipment for theater, opera and ballet performances. His creations have been shown at the Teatro alla Scala , the San Francisco Opera and the New York City Ballet, among others, and have been immortalized in the book accompanying the exhibition Theater der Mode in Munich.

The fashion designer found great recognition in 1985 when he was the first couturier to present works from his collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London . The museum designed a retrospective at the end of 2002, which could also be seen in other locations. In addition to collections for women, men and children, perfumes, bags, shoes, jewelry, dishes, home accessories and tiles now also bear his name.

Versace played a major role in the homoeroticization of men's fashion and had its large-format men's catalogs regularly photographed by Bruce Weber , although the clothing to be marketed mostly took a back seat in favor of pure nude photography . He explained his understanding of male beauty, the ideal of which he saw primarily in the Greco-Roman classical period, in his book Man without a Tie . In his palazzo in Milan and in Corno he himself had an extensive collection of antique and French antiques.

In 1989 he founded his second line Versus . It was largely designed by his sister Donatella Versace and has been shown at New York Fashion Week since 1995 . Other secondary lines followed, such as Instante , Signature and Versace Jeans . In 1996, Versace contracted bone cancer in the cheek and received chemotherapy , but continued to work.

assassination

Gianni Versace's villa "Casa Casuarina"

On July 15, 1997, Gianni Versace was shot on the stairs in front of his villa "Casa Casuarina" on Ocean Drive 1116 in Miami Beach when he came back from a newspaper shopping . His long-time partner D'Amico was interrogated for hours. The perpetrator was 27-year-old call boy and serial killer Andrew Phillip Cunanan , one of the FBI's most wanted criminals and who killed himself eight days later.

friends and family

Gianni Versace's clients and friends included Eric Clapton , Michael Jackson , Sting , Naomi Campbell , Elton John , Princess Diana , Madonna and Tupac Shakur , among others . Clapton wore Versace stage outfits in the early 1990s. Versace was a fan of Clapton's music and attended his concerts in Italy. In his autobiography, Clapton described Versace as the best fashion designer and rock tailor in the world. Elton John, who composed stage music for Versace's fashion shows, sang Psalm 25 with Sting at Versace's funeral service . The solemnity in Milan Cathedral was made possible against the opposition of the priests thanks to a large donation from the Versace family to the church.

D'Amico's relationship with the Versace family was never particularly good. Donatella Versace told the New York Times :

“My relationship with Antonio is exactly the same when Gianni was alive. I respect him as my brother's companion, but I never liked him as a person. "

In January 1998 D'Amico left the company, started to build his own fashion brand and now lives in Padenghe sul Garda .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ingo Salmen, Christoph Motog: Big in fashion with Albert. Stories and anecdotes from Lippstadt. Wartberg-Verlag, Gudensberg-Gleichen 2009.
  2. ↑ Anke Schipp, Alfons Kaiser : Albert Eickhoff - The King of the Avenue. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung , September 23, 2007.
  3. ↑ https://m.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/mord-an-gianni-versace-als-die-grosse-liebe-starb/985800.html
  4. ↑ a b Valerio Bartolucci: Unveiling the Versace mystique ( Memento from September 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ). In: Washington Blade . August 10, 2007
  5. ↑ Versace's long-term partner tells from his life ( Memento from June 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). In: rainbow.at. July 16, 2007
  6. ↑ a b c d e Al Weisel: The Widower Versace ( Memento from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). In: Out. August 1999, pp. 50-53 and 89-90
  7. ^ Gianni Versace Stage Suit. In: christies.com. Retrieved May 11, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Gianni Versace designed stage suit. In: bonhams.com. Retrieved May 11, 2014 .
  9. ^ Cover Art. Eric Clapton - Paper Jam. In: Geetarz Music Reviews Site
  10. ↑ Eric Clapton : My Life. KiWi, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Versace, Gianni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Versace, Giovanni Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian fashion designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1946
PLACE OF BIRTH Reggio Calabria , Italy
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 1997
Place of death Miami , Florida, USA