S/S 1996 Gianni Versace Couture Medusa Button Black Stretch Wool Mini Skirt
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 19 in (48.26 cm)Marked Size: IT40 / US6 (EU)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)Hip: 38 in (96.52 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Light wear from age and use throughout.
- Seller Location:West Hollywood, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2388216560952
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.
Gianni Versace Couture
Subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive, Gianni Versace’s (1946–97) designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos. “I don’t believe in good taste,” the legendary Italian couturier once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
Today, vintage Versace clothing, handbags and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant. The designer debuted his Atelier Versace line — which was part of the first Versace haute couture collection — in 1989.
More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration. In fact, 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! '90” — the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace was born in Reggio di 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, Versace 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 1989's Gianni Versace Couture — 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. This 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 Couture bags, 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 2004 Versace by Donatella Runway Yellow Black Tiger Print Wool SkirtBy Versace, Donatella VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a bold yellow tiger print Versace skirt, designed by Donatella Versace. From the Fall/Winter 2004 collection, a similar skirt debuted on the season's runway in look 8 modeled by Caroline Trentini. The pattern was also featured in the season's ad campaign, shot by Steven Meisel. This fitted skirt is covered in a yellow tiger print and features two slits in the back. Add this bold Versace Y2K...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts
- F/W 1992 Gianni Versace Couture 'Miss S&M' Runway Bondage Buckle Wool SkirtBy Gianni Versace, Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a lace-up buckle accented skirt designed by Gianni Versace for his infamous Fall/Winter 1992 collection. This skirt debuted on the 'Miss S&M' runway as part of looks 17 an...Category
1990s Italian Pencil Skirts
- F/W 2002 Gucci by Tom Ford Black Silk Satin Ribbon Bodycon SkirtBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a chic bodycon ribbon skirt designed by Tom Ford for Gucci's Fall/Winter 2002 collection. Thick strips of silk satin ribbon were expertly sewn together to create a cascadi...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts
- F/W 2002 Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford Runway Black Satin Ribbon Tulle SkirtBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a ribbon and mesh black satin bow skirt designed by Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche's Fall/Winter 2002 collection. Debuting as part of look 16 on Marcelle Bitt...Category
Early 2000s French Pencil Skirts
- S/S 2002 Gucci by Tom Ford Runway Black Silk Taffeta Belted Wrap Oversized SkirtBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a black silk taffeta Gucci skirt, designed by Tom Ford. From the Spring/Summer 2002 collection, this skirt debuted on the season's runway as part of look 33, modeled by Ja...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts
- S/S 1999 Gucci by Tom Ford Black Tulle Mesh Overlay Sample SkirtBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a black tulle Gucci skirt, designed by Tom Ford. From the Spring/Summer 1999 collection, this skirt was produced in limited numbers as a sample for the collection, making ...Category
1990s Italian Pencil Skirts
- Joseph Belted Sash Black Skirt Size UK LBy JosephLocated in New York, NYThis is a skirt full of delightful surprises. It moves with you. Hidden slits and flaps, wrapped belted waist gives a variety of options for styling. The long sash belt allows for...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Bulgarian Skirts
- John Galliano SS-2011 Wool Ruffled Hem Knee Length SkirtBy John GallianoLocated in Brussels, BEThe genius of John Galliano was his ability to make even the most traditional shapes alluring and seductive, adding his own personal twist to classical dressing. This stylish knee le...Category
2010s French Skirts
- Yves Saint Laurent by Tom Ford SS-02 Cotton Laced Safari Skirt with Leopard TrimBy Tom Ford for Yves Saint Laurent, Yves Saint Laurent Rive GaucheLocated in Brussels, BEThe sexy pencil skirt was a piece that Carine Roitfeld, Tom Ford’s longtime stylist and former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief, made quite popular in the early noughties. Roitfeld was obsessed with the rigor and discipline of uniforms, but she kept looking for ways to add eroticism to strictly tailored clothes. This military-inspired skirt -with its sensual trim of leopard print chiffon- was an obvious choice for her and hasn’t lost any of its relevance. This is a version of skirt Look 2 as seen on the runway spring/summer 2002, ready-to-wear, model Rie Rasmussen 100% cotton in brown Leopard trim...Category
Early 2000s Italian Pencil Skirts
- Comme des Garçons Skirt AD 2003By Comme des Garçons, Junya Watanabe Comme des GarçonsLocated in Berlin, BEFabulous pleated maxi skirt from Junya Watanabe for Comme des CDG AD 2003 Collection. Punk style, tattoo print. Size M.Category
Early 2000s Japanese Pleated Skirts
- GIANNI VERSACE Vintage Bondage SkirtBy Gianni Versace, VersusLocated in Georgetown, MERare Vintage GIANNI VERSACE Short Long Bondage Skirt. This incredible Versace skirt features gold lion head buttons and bondage accents. It's love. Desi...Category
1990s Italian Pencil Skirts
- Jean Paul Gaultier Jeans "Fight Racism" Skirt 1997By Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Venezia, ITJean Paul Gaultier Jeans "Fight Racism" Skirt Fall / Winter 1997 Size: 42 Materials: 100% Cotton Measures: Waist 40cm / Length 45cm Conditions: Excellent.Category
1990s Skirts