Talks

Remembering Gianni Versace.

The Italian king of baroque fashion was murdered exactly 25 years ago, at his Miami residence. He passed away at only 50 years old, while he was experiencing the peak of his success, uniting the celebrity culture with fashion and establishing iconic fashion codes in gold, flamboyant prints, and daring cuts, that continue to be just as relevant today.

Gianni has grounded the supermodel phenomenon through unique fashion show moments starring faces like Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, or Claudia Schiffer, lip-syncing to George Michael hits, or effervescently greeting the audience on the arm of the designer. In Gianni’s world of rich excess, his Amazon can embody a sleek dominatrix wearing ‘classy black bondage dresses, a nymph draped in floral prints, or a goddess dripped in gold. The diversity of characters walking his runways was also reflected in the choice of his muses: from Princess Diana to his army of supermodels and movie stars like Demi Moore. In whichever scenario, the Versace woman was always veiled in confidence, sexiness, and boldness.

Gianni pushed the limits of that time, outlining sometimes controversial designs which are now considered definitory for an era. Since his passing, the house of passion and baroque allure has been inherited by Donatella, who made sure the legacy of his brother Gianni will not be lost, while Versace will continue to create historical fashion moments.

Fun fact? The ‘shocking’ jungle dress worn by Jennifer Lopez at the Grammy Awards in 2000 helped the launch of both Donatella Versace's career and the image search function of the Google browser (everyone was looking for pictures with the dress on the internet). A true declaration of the fashion industry's impact.