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 Vintage 2000s Y2K Gold Logo Medusa Head Dangle Pierced Earrings
By Gianni Versace
Located in San Diego, CA
Iconic never worn GIANNI VERSACE gold Medusa head embossed dangle pierced back earrings. Each earring features 6 discs. Pierced back. Can easily be dressed up or down. In great unwor...
1990s Gianni Versace Silver Rhinestone Drop Clip on Earrings
By Gianni Versace
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Presenting a pair of silver-tone rhinestone-covered Gianni Versace earrings. From the 1990s, these circular clip-on earrings are covered in shimmery rhinestones and made complete wit...
JUDITH RIPKA CZ Sterling Silver Heart Pierced Earrings w Amethyst 9.9 grams
By Judith Ripka
Located in New York, NY
JUDITH RIPKA CZ Sterling Silver Heart Pierced Earrings w Amethyst 9.9 grams These beautiful "Double Heart" Sterling Silver Earrings glimmer with round bead-set Diamonique simulated ...
Zircon, Amethyst, Sterling Silver
Enamel Bakelite Hand Painted Emerald Ruby Diamond Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful bakelite bird earrings features unique hand painted miniature art set. Cast in 18-karat gold & sterling silver, these earrings are set wi...
Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Gold, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver, Enamel
6.65 Carat Diamond Emerald 18 Karat White Gold Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful earrings are handcrafted in 18-karat white gold. It is set in 6.65 carats emerald and 1.70 carats of sparkling diamonds. FOLLOW MEGHNA JEWELS storefront to view the ...
Diamond, Emerald, Gold, 18k Gold, White Gold
Meghna Jewels 15.78 Carats Amethyst Tourmaline 14 Karat Gold Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
Hand cast from 14-karat gold, these stunning earrings are set with 15.78 carats amethyst. 1.45 carats tourmaline and 1.0 carats of sparkling diamonds. FOLLOW MEGHNA JEWELS storefro...
Amethyst, Tourmaline, Gold, 14k Gold
$4,200 / item
Feather Diamond Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful feature earrings are handmade in 18-karat gold and sterling silver. It is hand set with 3.84 carats of glimmering diamonds. Available in yellow, rose and white gold. ...
Diamond, 18k Gold, Sterling Silver
Enamel Hand Painted Diamond Amethyst 18 Karat Gold Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful bird earrings features unique hand painted miniature art cast in 18K gold. It is set in 59.75 carats pearl, 6.1 carats amethyst & 0.13 carats diamonds. FOLLOW MEGH...
Diamond, Amethyst, Gold, 18k Gold, Enamel
$1,523 / item
D 0.19 in
Alex Jona 18 Karat Yellow Gold Black Agate Interlocking Hoops Pendant Earrings
By Alex Jona
Located in Lugano, TI
Alex Jona design collection, hand crafted in Italy, 18 karat yellow gold drop earrings, suspending two hand carved black agate interlocking hoop links. Alex Jona jewels stand out, ...
Agate, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
$14,750 / item
36.63 Carat Tanzanite Diamond 18 Karat Gold Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful drop earring are handcrafted in 18-karat gold. It is set with 36.63 carats tanzanite and 2.0 carats of sparkling diamonds. FOLLOW MEGHNA JEWELS storefront to view t...
Diamond, Tanzanite, Gold, 18k Gold
Art Deco Style 14 Karat Gold Black Onyx Chain Drop Diamond Earrings
By Meghna Jewels
Located in Hoffman Estate, IL
These beautiful art deco style chain drop earrings are cast in 14-karat white gold, hand set in 18.03 carats black onyx, .92 carats topaz and 3.38 carats of glittering diamonds. FOL...
Diamond, Onyx, White Gold, Gold, 14k Gold
David Webb Platinum & Yellow Gold Cultured Pearl, Coral and Enamel Clip Earrings
By David Webb
Located in New York, NY
The surmounts set with two semi-baroque cultured pearls within black enameled frames, suspending carved corals centering drop-shaped cultured pearls. Length: 2 3/8 inches. The coral...
Coral, Cultured Pearl, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
1.40 Carat Natural Diamond 14K Solid White Gold Earrings
Located in Los Angeles, CA
1.40 Carat Natural Diamond 14K Solid White Gold Earrings Amazing looking piece! Suggested Replacement Value: Approx. $6,000.00 Tota...
Diamond, 14k Gold, White Gold
Vintage Green Tourmaline and Diamond 18 Carat Yellow Gold Dangle Earrings
Located in London, GB
These lovely vintage earrings feature 7 round brilliant cut diamonds mounted on a twisted dangle ribbon, suspended from an elongated screw-back stud, weighing a total approximate wei...
Diamond, Tourmaline, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold
Versace 1980s Ugo Correani Geometric Clip-On Earrings
By Gianni Versace
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Get some Versace in your life! Circa 1980s, these silver tone earrings are the product of Ugo Correani who worked alongside Gianni Versace to create costume jewelry. They feature a g...