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 F/w 1992 Multi-Layer Gold Medusa Medallion Choker Necklace
By Gianni Versace
Located in 上海市, Xuhui district
This luxurious Versace necklace features a bold, multi-layered design with the iconic Medusa medallions and Greek key accents, both hallmarks of the brand's opulent aesthetic. Crafte...
Gianni Versace – Iconic Medusa 24K Gold-Plated Multi-Strand Necklace / Belt
By Gianni Versace
Located in Bresso, IT
Made in Italy, 1990s. An exceptional, museum-grade investment piece from the Golden Era of Gianni Versace (1990s). This is a pinnacle of Italian fashion history, embodying the bold, ...
24k Gold, Gold Plate
Carnelian Bead Knotted String Triple Strand Necklace, 14 Karat Clasp
Located in Milford, DE
A bold and bright triple strand necklace! Features three strands of 10mm carnelian beads, connected to a single strand with a vermeil cubic zirconia-accented connector. The clasp its...
Carnelian, 14k Gold, Vermeil
Marco Bicego Five Strand Gold Bead Necklace
By Marco Bicego
Located in Darnestown, MD
This five strand gold bead necklace is by Marco Bicego, the most popular of contemporary designers. He is known for the delicately textured hand etched surfaces he creates to the gold. His pieces are all crafted by hand. This necklace has five strands with pear shaped gold...
18k Gold
On Hold|$4,330
18 kt Gold Diamond Ruby Necklace
Located in Marcianise, CE
Elegant and shiny necklace in 18kt white gold composed of six rows of rubies divided by two stripes of diamonds. The white gold clasp is covered in diamonds. diamonds 0.87kt rubies ...
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, White Gold
Coral, Garnets, Diamonds, Rose Gold and Silver Multi-Strand Necklace.
Located in Marcianise, CE
Fantastic multi-strands necklace mounted with three strands of coral and a fly shape clasp in 9 karat rose gold and silver structure. It is studded with garnets on the body, on the n...
Coral, Diamond, Garnet, 9k Gold, Rose Gold, Silver
Diamonds Yellow Topaz Garnet Rose Gold Silver Fly Shape Clasp Red Coral Necklace
Located in Marcianise, CE
Unique red coral multi-strand necklace composed by five red coral rows, and rose gold and silver fly shape clasp that has movable wings all studded by little diamonds. It has two red...
Diamond, Garnet, Topaz, Coral, 9k Gold, Rose Gold, Silver
1984 Vintage Chanel Multi Strand Choker Necklace Faux Pearls Yellow Gold Tone
By Chanel
Located in Torrance, CA
Vintage Chanel multi-strand necklace crafted in yellow gold tone (circa 1984). The necklace features 3 strands of 10mm faux pearls with 2 strands of yellow gold plated wheat-style chains. Measuring 17 inches in length the necklace is slightly adjustable to 19 inches. Given the multiple strands (and the thickness of the chain metal and faux pearl strands...
Base Metal
Angela Caputi Black and Yellow Multi-Strand Resin Choker Necklace
By Angela Caputi
Located in Atlanta, GA
This stunning Angela Caputi, made-in-Italy resin choker necklace features a multi-strand design with a dominant black color contrasted with lemon-yellow carved beads. Geometric motif...
Mario Buccellati Pearl Necklace with Old Cut Diamond Clasp circa 1970s
By Mario Buccellati
Located in Roma, RM
An elegant and refined Mario Buccellati pearl necklace, purchased in New York in the 1970s and accompanied by the original purchase papers, a...
Diamond, Pearl
Christian Dior necklace 'Tonkidior' by John Galliano 2006
By John Galliano for Christian Dior
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
DIOR - A 2006 Collection, under the artistic direction of John Galliano. Enameled silvery metal butterfly "Tonkidior" necklace with turquoise-color howlite pearls. Condition: Very ...
GIOVANE Multi-Strand Ruby Bead Diamond Tassel Necklace
By Giovane
Located in New York, NY
An 18 karat yellow gold, ruby and diamond necklace, Giovane, Italy, circa 1990s. Designed as ten strands of graduated ruby beads gathered by two floral motifs, each centering an ova...
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold
$7,902
W 0.36 in L 25.2 in
Chanel Vintage Rare 1993 Iconic Large CC Clear Lava Long Octagon Rope Necklace
By Chanel
Located in Wokingham, England
Chanel Vintage 1993 93 A Iconic Classic Unisex Large CC Coco Logo Clear Lava Long Octagon Textured Relief Engraving Rope Spring Ring Interlocked Chunky Statement Elegant Modernist La...
Gold
Two Strand Glass Multicolored Mali African Fulani Wedding Bead Necklace
Located in Point Richmond, CA
Fulani Wedding beads were made in what was once known as Czechoslovakia for trade in Africa. They are worn throughout West Africa, specifically in Mali. Fulani Wedding beads are mult...
GIANNI VERSACE F/W 1992 Gold Signature Medusa Medallion Coin Choker Bib Necklace
By Gianni Versace
Located in Thiensville, WI
GIANNI VERSACE F/W 1992 Gold Signature Medusa Medallion Coin Choker Bib Necklace Brand / Manufacturer: Gianni Versace Collection: F/W 1992 Designer: Gianni Versace Style: Chain bib...
The Irresistible Ascot Vintage Versace Black and Yellow Silk Tie Necklace
By Gianni Versace
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Vintage Versace Black and Yellow silk ties artistically arranged into a gorgeous ascot necklace. Versace black and white print checkered silk tie, Versace black and yellow diamond print vintage tie, and versace checkered...