S/S 2002 Gianni Versace by Donatella Black Leather Lace Up Fringe Shoulder Bag
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor wear throughout. Splitting to leather strands.
- Seller Location:West Hollywood, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2388220752542
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: West Hollywood, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- F/W 1992 Gianni Versace 'Miss S&M' Croc Embossed Medusa Medallion Dome BagBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting an embossed patent leather dome bag by Gianni Versace. This piece was released as part of Versace's iconic 'Miss S&M' F/W 1992 collection, famous for its bondage-inspired ...Category
1990s Italian Tote Bags
- F/W 1994 Vintage Gianni Versace Silver Metallic Python Medusa Shoulder BagBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in West Hollywood, CAConstructed of shiny, silver metallic python, this vintage Gianni Versace was made in the early 1990s. Silver metal Medusa logos are prominently featured at the bottom of the handles...Category
1990s Italian Top Handle Bags
- 1990s Gucci by Tom Ford Black PVC Transparent Bamboo Top Handle Shoulder BagBy Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a fabulous black transparent PVC Gucci tote, designed by Tom Ford. From the late 1990s, this bag showcases a mesmerizing semi-transparent black PVC composition. The inclusion of a PVC bamboo handle not only infuses the piece with a touch of charm but also pays homage to Gucci's rich heritage. Adding to its practicality, the built-in leather wallet pouch...Category
1990s Italian Top Handle Bags
- F/W 1997 Gucci by Tom Ford Mini Satin Square G Logo Asymmetric BagBy Gucci, Tom FordLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a rare silk-satin asymmetric mini bag designed by Tom Ford for the Fall/Winter 1997 Gucci collection. The gold-toned G-lock hardware is fea...Category
1990s Italian Top Handle Bags
- 2000s Gianni Versace by Donatella Embroidered Lizard Medusa Clutch Strap Y2KBy Gianni Versace, Donatella Versace for Gianni VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a purple lizard-embossed Gianni Versace frame bag designed by Donatella Versace in the early 2000s. This Y2K bag features a gunmetal Medusa medallio...Category
Early 2000s Italian Top Handle Bags
- F/W 2004 Gucci by Tom Ford Finale GG Gold Bamboo Ring Shoulder BagBy Tom Ford for Gucci, GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a 'GG' monogram woven small tote designed by Tom Ford for Gucci. As part of Ford's final collection with Gucci, his bag features the same gold metallic leather and bamboo hardware...Category
Early 2000s Italian Top Handle Bags
- Pablo Picasso Vintage Bi Color Kelly Flap BagBy Pablo PicassoLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe Vintage Kelly Flap style bag from Pablo Picassi is one of the famed luxury goods house's most coveted and exclusive items. This flap bag is made of blac...Category
1980s Italian Top Handle Bags
- NEW LOUIS VUITTON Rare Fuchsia Runway Cartoon Art Firebird Limited Edition BagBy Louis VuittonLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe extremely rare LOUIS VUITTON Fuchsia Cartoon Firebird, the most luxurious of them all. One of a kind and only a few were released Worldwide in 2008! Cartoon Limited Collection ba...Category
Early 2000s French Top Handle Bags
- Judith Leiber Rare Vintage Alligator Kelly Flap BagBy Judith LeiberLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe Vintage Kelly Flap style Alligator bag from Judith Leiber is one of the famed luxury goods house's most coveted and exclusive items. This flap bag is ba...Category
1980s Italian Top Handle Bags
- Hermès Kelly Mini II Tricolore Verso Craie/Mauve Pale/Gold Veau Epsom PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA gorgeous Hermès Kelly Mini II Tricolore Verso handbag. The exterior of this Kelly Mini features Craie, Mauve Pale and Gold Veau Epsom leather and is compl...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Top Handle Bags
- Rare Hermès Birkin 25cm Gris Caillou Grizzly/ Gris Meyer Swift PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA rare Hermès Birkin 25cm handbag. The Grizzly Birkin is the namesake edition designed to showcase Veau Doblis Suede. The exterior of this Birkin is cra...Category
2010s French Top Handle Bags
- Hermés Kelly Sellier 25cm Vert Verone Veau Epsom GHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA gorgeous Hermès 25cm Kelly bag. The exterior of this Kelly features a Sellier style in Vert Verone Veau Epsom leather. The Vert Verone Epsom leather is complemented with gold-tone hardware and tonal stitchings. It features a front toggle closure with two straps, a single rolled handle and a removable shoulder strap. The interior is lined with Vert Verone leather and has one zip pocket with an Hermès engraved...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Top Handle Bags