Gianni Versace Silk Velvet Skirt with Chainmail Beaded Waist
View Similar Items
Gianni Versace Silk Velvet Skirt with Chainmail Beaded Waist
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 25 in (63.5 cm)Marked Size: S, M (US)Waist: 27 in (68.58 cm)Hip: 37 in (93.98 cm)
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Water Mill, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU51117268112
Gianni Versace
The signature extravagance of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace — forever aligned with glamour, sex, celebrity and spectacle — can overshadow the Italian couturier’s broad and deep engagement with history and culture. Today, his vintage dresses and gowns, handbags, sunglasses and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant.
More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration, and his subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos. “I don’t believe in good taste,” he once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
Gianni Versace was born in Calabria, Italy. His mother was a successful dressmaker who employed more than 40 seamstresses. As a child, little Gianni marveled at her workshop, which would become a university of sorts, where he learned the exceptional construction techniques that were at the foundation of his creative expression.
In 1972, at age 25, he moved to Milan to work in fashion. He launched his first collection — and his label — in 1978, with his older brother Santo managing the business concerns. Soon, sister Donatella, whom Gianni dressed and took to discos when she was still a child, joined the family venture, where she had a creative role and managed enormously popular ready-to-wear lines such as Versus.
Vintage Versace — and Gianni Versace Couture, which debuted in 1989 — has become catnip for modern fashion enthusiasts who seek out the now-iconic house codes that originated in the designs of the 1980s and 1990s. His glamorous and seductive apparel — the clingy skirts and slender, strappy party dresses, as well as the erotic magazine ads that publicized them — looms large, but Versace’s art and historical influences were also vast.
Versace was an art collector, and he took on commissions to create costumes for theatrical performances during the 1980s and spoke of looking to numerous cultures for inspiration. The New York Times noted in 1997 that the fashion industry “is now driven by contemporary culture because Mr. Versace made it that way.”
Insiders consider his 1991/1992 Autumn/Winter runway show — which featured supermodels Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista lip-synching George Michael’s “Freedom” — as the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace's adventurous spirit of design resulted in his creating jewel-toned prints rooted in Grecian motifs, Etruscan symbols, the Italian Baroque and Andy Warholʼs Marilyn Monroe. There were slinky dresses in Oroton, his patented chain-mail textile that draped like satin, and leather bondage ensembles. Sex sold, for both women and men. Wrote the late curator Richard Martin, “[Versace] became the standard-bearer of gay men’s fashion because he eschewed decorum and designed for desire.”
Following Versace’s tragic murder in 1997, Donatella took over the role of artistic director and continued to evolve the house codes with a twist of her feminine and feminist perspective. Today, Santo Versace is chief executive officer of Versace and Donatella is its chief creative officer.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Gianni Versace evening dresses, handbags, day dresses and more on 1stDibs.
- Verace Leather Skirt with Studs and Buckle WaistBy VersaceLocated in Water Mill, NYA fabulous black leather skirt from Versace. It is pencil style with rows of silver metal studs around the waist and along angled front seaming into whic...Category
Early 2000s Italian Skirts
- 1960s Grey Skirt with Elaborate Bead TrimLocated in Water Mill, NYA fabulous grey wool skirt with elaborate beading around the hem. It has a 2 3/4 " waistband onto which the A line skirt is slightly gathered. Around the hem is 5" of an elaborate ...Category
1960s Hong Kong Skirts
- Karl Lagerfeld Skirt with Handkerchief HemBy Karl LagerfeldLocated in Water Mill, NYA gorgeous black wool jersey skirt from Karl Lagerfeld. It has a 2 1/2" wide waistband with overlapping pointed panels forming the skirt. It has a back zipper, front pockets and is...Category
1990s French Skirts
- Emanuel Ungaro Ruched Skirt 1990sBy Emanuel UngaroLocated in Water Mill, NYA fabulous wool jersey skirt from Emanuel Ungaro's Parallele line an elaborate pattern of flowers in blue, purple, red, pink on a grey background. It is pencil style with the entire...Category
1990s French Skirts
- Moschino Question Mark SkirtBy Moschino Cheap and Chic, MoschinoLocated in Water Mill, NYA fabulous black fine wool skirt by Moschino. It is a pencil style skirt adorned with a large black velvet question mark applique wrapping around the hi...Category
1990s Italian Skirts
- Dolce & Gabbana New Silk SkirtBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Water Mill, NYA beautiful copper brown stretch silk pencil skirt from Dolce & Gabbana. It has a waist band plus fabulous seaming and darts radiating from a center front panel. It is lined in same...Category
2010s Italian Pencil Skirts
- S/S 2005 Versace by Donatella Chaos Couture Studded Denim Patch Vest Skirt SetBy Donatella Versace, VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting an incredible studded denim Versace skirt set, designed by Donatella Versace. From the Spring/Summer 2005 'Chaos Couture' collection, this int...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Dolce & Gabbana Renaissance printed silk dress with draped skirt, ss 1990By Dolce & GabbanaLocated in London, GB▪ Dolce & Gabbana evening dress with draped skirt ▪ Print: Transfiguration by Raphael (1516–1520) ▪ Four ties attached at the waistband which can b...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Serge & Real Black Taffeta Pleated Long Skirt - MLocated in West Palm Beach, FLSerge & Real Black Taffeta Pleated Long Skirt - M. This Serge & Real long skirt is black taffeta. It is pleated and loose. This skirt is in good co...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Futuristic Orange Vinyl Courréges A Line Mini SkirtBy CourrègesLocated in Sheffield, GBIconic and Futuristic orange vinyl mini skirt by Courréges. Circa 2000. Features; Conceal zip up side Belt loops A-Line shape Fully lined 85% Cotto...Category
Early 2000s French A-Line Skirts
- 1960s Vintage Cream/ Off White Silk Soutache Lace Top/ Skirt Ensemble or DressLocated in Sparks, NVStunning vintage two-piece ensemble featuring a top and a skirt that can be worn together as a dress or separately. This came from a high end estate and was custom made for it's original owner with silk and soutache lace...Category
1960s American Cocktail Dresses
- 1980s Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Vintage Quilted Metallic Gold Pencil SkirtBy Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Sparks, NVVintage 1980s metallic gold quilted pencil skirt by Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche. Fully lined with side zip and hook closure and pockets. The marked size is 38, and the skirt fits ...Category
1980s French Pencil Skirts