"I think it is the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers" - Gianni Versace.
Early Life
Giovanni Maria Versace was born on 2nd december, 1946 in the industrial city of Reggio Calabria, Italy. His father, Antonio, was a appliance salesperson and his mother, Francesca, was a dressmaker and a cloth store owner where she employed twelve seamstresses. He was third of the four siblings. He grew up with his older brother Santo Versace and younger sister Donatella Versace. An older sister named Tina died at the age of 12 due to an infection.
Gianni Versace spent much of his time at his mother's store as a child. He watched her make clothes. After high school, he started working at her store. He was very much interested in designing part and used to admire the chic women who entered the store. He was very much influenced by the ancient Greek and Roman cultures. He used to wander around ancient Greek and Roman ruins. This influence can be seen in his coming collections
Building a Billion Dollar Empire
On February 5, 1972, he was asked to come to Milan by Salvatore Chiodini and Ezio Nicosia of Florentine flowers clothing mill, to design a summer collection immediately as it was urgent. He designed the summer collection and it was a huge hit. It is said that he earned four million for that.
In 1973, he made designs for Italian labels Genny, Callaghan, Complice and also for De Parisini of Santa Margherita. Versace designed women's ready to wear collection for Callaghan and clothes made of leather for Genny.
His brother Santo was working as a management consultant in Reggio Calabria. He left the job in 1976 and shifted to Milan. He and his brother decided to start their own label "Gianni Versace". Versace presented his first signature collection for women at the Pallazo della Permanente art museum of Milan. The same year he had his first fashion show on September. His sister, Donatella joined the business in 1977. Her husband, Paul Beck also joined the company, overseeing the men's wear line. In 1978, he opened his first boutique in Milan's Via della Spiga.
Gianni Versace became a sensation in Milan's fashion industry due to his unique methods of designing. He became known for his siren dresses which became his trademark. He used innovative materials in his designs such as Aluminium mesh and cutting-edge techniques like 'neo-couture', laser technology to fuse leather and rubber. In 1982, Versace expanded business into jewellery, household furnishings, fragrance, purses, china, watches etc. In 1989, he launched his first couture collection. He also added two clothing lines, Versace and Instante, to his business in 90's.
Versace decided to take full control of the product from designing to retailing. Control of the manufacturing quantity was necessary in order to monitor quality and image. Retailing through boutiques was handled directly for image purposes in Paris, London, New York, Madrid and Milan. Versace was the first designer probably to mix fashion industry with music.
As far as his personal life, he was gay and he started a relationship with model, Antinio D'Amico. This relationship lasted until Versace's murder. During his time, D'Amico worked as a designer in Versace label. D'Amico was the head designer for Istante and Versus sports line. There was a tough competition between Versace and Giorgio Armani. There seemed to be sort of rivalry between both in terms of introducing new designs.
Death
Gianni Versace owned four homes around the world. One of them is a mansion on Ocean Drive in Miami beach. On July 15, 1997, while returning from morning walk, Gianni Versace was shot dead in front of his home by US serial killer Andrew Cunanan. After a private service, his remains were cremated and bought back to his siblings in Milan. In Milan, 2000 mourners attended e memorial mass held in city's gothic cathedral. Celebrities like Princess Diana, Elton John, Naomi Campbell, Mauris Bejart and his archrival Giorgio Armani attended the funeral. In his will, he wrote 50% of his fashion empire to his niece, Allegra Versace. After Allegra turned 18 years old in 2004, she inherited her stake, worth around $500 million.
