GIANNI VERSACE / GV-1006
View Similar Items
GIANNI VERSACE / GV-1006
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 4/6 (US)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 26 in (66.04 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:EXCELLENT.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: AU1305024363
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.
- 1992 Complice by Dolce & Gabbana High Waisted skirt and Top SetBy Complice, Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Austin, TX1992 Complice by Dolce & Gabbana high waisted skirt and bra top with removable tie for top or neck. Fabric is a spandex blend Condition: Excellent SZ S TOP: Bust: 28-38", Length:...Category
1990s Italian Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Emanuel Ungaro Light Blue Silk Polka Dot Skirt Suit 1990sBy Emanuel UngaroLocated in Brindisi, BtEmanuel Ungaro 90s vintage women's skirt suit. Complete shirt and skirt with polka dots , 100% silk , light blue and yellow. Wallet skirt, soft knit with short sleeves. Made in Italy...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Gianni Versace Couture Black Silver Silk Wool Lamè Evening Skirt Suit 1980sBy Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in Brindisi, BtGianni Versace Couture evening 80s vintage women's skirt suit. Jacket and skirt in wool and silk . Color black laminated, inside silver lining. Jacket with clip closure, sheath skirt...Category
1980s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Emanuel Ungaro Light Blue Silk Skirt Suit Polka Dot Party Cocktail Dress 1990sBy Emanuel UngaroLocated in Brindisi, BtEmanuel Ungaro 90s vintage women's skirt suit. Complete shirt and skirt with polka dots , 100% silk , light blue and yellow. Wallet skirt, soft knit with short sleeves. Made in Italy...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Chanel Black, Gold and Royal Blue Lurex DressBy ChanelLocated in London, GBThis contemporary Chanel dress, made of an eye-catching lurex in an abstract print of black, gold and blue. The silhouette is reminiscent of ancient Greek dress...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Twin Sets
- Pauline Trigère Ensemble with Fox TrimBy Pauline TrigèreLocated in Alford, MAStunning Pauline Trigère 1970s ensemble in black wool crepe, the simple dress underneath an unusual reverse cape/shawl terminating in deep black fox trim at t...Category
1970s American Dress and Coat Ensembles
$780 Sale Price20% Off