Gianni Versace Couture Leopard Blazer, 1990s
View Similar Items
Gianni Versace Couture Leopard Blazer, 1990s
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Length: 30 in (76.2 cm)Marked Size: 42 (EU)Bust: 36 in (91.44 cm)Waist: 36 in (91.44 cm)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: DSSJ3ON2661stDibs: LU16121234202
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.
- MORPHEW COLLECTION Silk Brocade Cocoon Made Using An Antique Moroccan Wall HangBy MorphewLocated in New York, NYMORPHEW COLLECTION Silk Brocade Cocoon Made Using An Antique Moroccan Wall Hanging MORPHEW COLLECTION is made entirely by hand in our NYC Ateliér...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Coats and Outerwear
- 1970S Hand Woven Cotton Peruvian Ceremonial Poncho Covered In Metallic EmbroidLocated in New York, NY1970S Hand Woven Cotton Peruvian Ceremonial Poncho Covered In Metallic Embroidery With TasselsCategory
1970s Peruvian Mantle Coats
- 1970S Red Rayon Tropical Print Oversized JacketLocated in New York, NY1970S Red Rayon Tropical Print Oversized JacketCategory
1970s Jackets
- 1980S MISSONI Earth Tone Wool Blend Knit Dress With Matching VestBy MissoniLocated in New York, NY1980S MISSONI Earth Tone Wool Blend Knit Dress With Matching VestCategory
1980s Vests
- Victorian Egg Plant & Gold Floral Embroidered Silk Quilted VestLocated in New York, NYVictorian Egg Plant & Gold Floral Embroidered Silk Quilted VestCategory
Early 1900s Vests
- 1970S Brown & Olive Green Suede Diamond Cut Studded Boho VestLocated in New York, NY1970S Brown & Olive Green Suede Diamond Cut Studded Boho VestCategory
1970s Vests
- Sexy German Christine Vogdt 1970s Lynx Fur Stroller Length Coat US Size 8 MediumLocated in Tustin, CAWild and exotic, this vintage, spotted lynx fur coat or jacket from the 1970s, in excellent condition, makes a bold fashion statement from internationally renowned German fashion designer/artist, Christine Vogdt...Category
1970s German Jackets
$3,920 Sale Price20% Off - Attributed to Gianni Versace Colorblock Linen Jacket with Beading, c.1991.By Gianni Versace CoutureLocated in New York, NYAttributed to Gianni Versace Colorblock Linen Jacket with Beading, c.1991. Yellow, green, and pink cropped jacket with beaded motifs all over arms ...Category
1990s Italian Blazers
- Rare 1960s Paco Rabbane Chainmail JacketBy Paco RabanneLocated in New York, NYRare 1960s Paco Rabbane Chainmail Jacket; Comprised of gold-tone linked metal discs. Open front with no closure.Category
1960s French Cropped Jackets
- RENATO NUCCI vintage baroque silk Blazer, c. 90sLocated in Genève, CHFabulous jacket made of silk fabric with a navy/gold with burgundy touches baroque print. Closed by 2 buttons (other 2 replacement buttons) and 2 frontal pocket, as the jacket is in ...Category
1980s French Blazers
- Chanel CC Logo 4 Pockets Braided Trim Tweed Jacket Blazer 08A 2008 New With TagBy ChanelLocated in Merced, CAChanel Cc logo tweed jacket with braided trim jacket blazer. It is adorned with 4 front pockets and Chanel interlocking CC logo buttons. It ha...Category
Early 20th Century French Jackets
- Chanel CC Logo Studded Tweed Wool Jacket 08A 2008 New Fr 36By ChanelLocated in Merced, CAChanel rare to find studded tweed jacket adorned with Chanel interlocking CC logo throughout. It is adorned with two front faux pockets, weighted chain at hem. It is fully lined. This unique piece is from Chanel Fall 2008...Category
20th Century French Jackets