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 Gold Plated Medusa Link Necklace circa 1990s
By Gianni Versace
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Gianni Versace Gold Plated Medusa Link Necklace from the circa 1990s is a striking statement piece that embodies the bold, opulent style characteristic of the era. Crafted with metic...
$2,825
H 37 in W 2.5 in D 0.15 in Dm 13.5 in L 37 in
Vintage Gold Tone Long Link Necklace, Four Piece Design, Circa 1980s
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Gold Tone Vertical Long Necklace With 4 Pieces Circa 1980s. This is almost a necktie or can even be worn alone under a jacket. It is 4 separate pieces that gradually get la...
Mixed Metal
Vintage KJL Wide Diamante Mesh Belt, Circa 1960s, USA
By KJL
Located in New York, NY
Vintage Early KJL Mesh Like Diamante Wide Belt Circa 1960s. As a collector of Belts, when you find something that is a work of art, you know. I have a collection that I will post, w...
Mixed Metal
Cable Chain Necklace, 14 Karat Yellow Gold 22" at 2.85 mm
By Five Star Jewelry
Located in Austin, TX
The details for this beautiful chain are listed below: Metal Quality: 14 Karat Yellow Gold Chain Type: Cable Chain Length: 22 inches Clasp: Lobster Chain Diameter: 2.85 millimeters
Gold, 14k Gold, Yellow Gold
Diamonds, 18 Karat White Gold Necklace.
Located in Napoli, Campania
Elegant modern necklace in 18 kt white gold structure mounted with diamonds. Diamonds 2.00 ct Total Weight 20.80 gr RF G GHOHU RK.AGIRC126 For any informations, feel free to...
Diamond, 18k Gold, White Gold
Antique Bohemian Necklace Garnets Gilt Silver / 46cm / 31gr.
Located in SE
Bohemian ca. 1920 - 1930s century Austrian / Bohemian Garnet Necklace. Metal parts made of gilded / gold filled Silver. All 250 blood Red Bohemian Garnets are rose cut and cluster ...
Garnet, Silver
Coral Necklace.
Located in Napoli, Campania
Retrò necklace mounted with coral and a closure in silver. This necklace was totally handmade by Italian master goldsmiths and it is in perfect conditions. Coral 60.70 gr Total Weigh...
Coral, Silver
Christian Dior choker necklace 2000s
By Christian Dior
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
DIOR - Short silvery metal necklace set with costume pearl and rhinestones. A Collection circa 2000 under the artistic direction of John Galliano. Condition: Very good condition Di...
$400
W 2.82 in L 21.26 in
Angela Caputi Black and Red Cinnabar Multi-Row Resin Necklace and Floral Carving
By Angela Caputi
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning Angela Caputi resin choker necklace features an oversized multi-strand design in exquisite red cinnabar with black contrast colors. The heavily domed, rounded beads hav...
Betty Cooke Hardstone Necklace
By Betty Cooke
Located in Darnestown, MD
Betty Cooke silver necklace with nine oval hardstone beads and one round silver disc. They are strung on tube links. The stones "read" purple but i...
Quartz, Sterling Silver
Gold Plated Textured Knot Design Link Necklace circa 1950s
Located in London, GB
Wonderful gold plated necklace with pairs of textured knot design links. The links finish with a shiny rectangle. Measuring length 46.2 cm / 18.1 inches by width 1.7 cm / .66 inch. ...
Gold Plate
An 18k Gold Bulgari Parentesi Necklace with Sapphire and Diamond
By Bulgari
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An 18k yellow gold link necklace with 3 links in the center, each with an oval-cut sapphire (total app. 1.56 ct) with two diamonds on either side, alternating with 4 links set with d...
Diamond, Sapphire, 18k Gold
$3,339 / set
W 0.3 in D 0.3 in Dm 0.3 in L 6.3 in
2 Gemstone necklace Azurite-Malachite, Jasper, 24 Carat gold ball lock for both
Located in Stuttgart, DE
About Both gemstone ball necklace, Azurite-Malacite and landscape Jaspis can be worn with an interchangeable 24 Carat fine gold ball 14 gramm, as a clasp. Azurit-Malachit length ne...
Gold, 24k Gold