1990s Gianni Versace Couture Teal Python Metal Top Handle Shoulder Bag
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Light wear throughout. Few light marks/scratches throughout. Metal hardware has light scratches.
- Seller Location:West Hollywood, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2388219104312
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. 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,” Versace once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life. Today, vintage Gianni Versace clothing, handbags and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant.
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 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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: West Hollywood, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- 1990s Yves Saint Laurent Brown Python Skin Logo Top Handle Tote BagBy Yves Saint LaurentLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a fabulous brown python Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche top handle bag. From the 1990s, this bag's structured design features the exotic beauty of dark brown python, making...Category
1990s Top Handle Bags
- F/W 2004 Gucci by Tom Ford Finale GG Gold Bamboo Ring Shoulder BagBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a 'GG' monogram woven small tote designed by Tom Ford for Gucci. As part of Ford's final collection with Gucci, his bag features the same gold metallic leather and bamboo hardware...Category
Early 2000s Italian Top Handle Bags
- S/S 2004 Gucci by Tom Ford Black GG Horsebit Shoulder Bag with Pink Satin StripeBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CADesigned by Tom Ford during his tenure at the house of Gucci, this bag represents Tom's interpretation of many of Gucci's classic elements ('GG' canvas, horse bits, etc.). This shoul...Category
1990s Italian Structured Shoulder Bags
- S/S 1998 Gucci by Tom Ford Red Karung Snake Skin Lucite Top Handle BagBy Gucci, Tom Ford for GucciLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting a rare deep red lizard skin Gucci bag, designed by Tom Ford. This beautiful bag is constructed primarily of red dyed Karung snake skin and is made complete with gold-color...Category
1990s Italian Structured Shoulder Bags
- S/S 2005 Versace by Donatella Micro/Mini Ocean Themed Duffle BagBy Gianni Versace, Donatella VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting an adorable micro Versace Boston style bag, designed by Donatella Versace. The same print is seen on the S/S 2005 runway on looks 33 and 37 a...Category
Early 2000s Italian Evening Bags and Minaudières
- NWT S/S 2001 Atelier Versace by Donatella Versace Pink Satin and Wicker BagBy Atelier Versace, Donatella VersaceLocated in West Hollywood, CAPresenting an incredible pink wicker Atelier Versace bag, designed by Donatella Versace. From the Haute Couture collection, this bag debuted on the season'...Category
Early 2000s Italian Top Handle Bags
- Fendi Monogram Blue PochetteLocated in New York, NYLength: 11 Inches Height: 6 Inches Material: CanvasCategory
1990s Top Handle Bags
- Moschino vintage black heart bagBy MoschinoLocated in CAPELLE AAN DEN IJSSEL, ZHMoschino 90’s Vintage black leather Heart bag. Designed by Franco Moschino. Vintage Condition; 7/10 Made in Italy. Height-7 Depth- 3" Width- 9" Handle Drop- 3.5"Category
1990s Top Handle Bags
- Hermès Birkin 25cm Noir Lezard Niloticus Lisse PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBAn alluring Hermès Exotic Birkin 25cm handbag. The exterior of this exotic Birkin is in shiny Noir Lezard Niloticus Lisse with tonal stitching. It adorns...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Top Handle Bags
- Hermès Kelly Mini II Tricolore Verso Craie/Mauve Pale/Gold Veau Epsom PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA gorgeous Hermès Kelly Mini II Tricolore Verso handbag. The exterior of this Kelly Mini features Craie, Mauve Pale and Gold Veau Epsom leather and is compl...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Top Handle Bags
- Hermés Kelly II Sellier 25cm Mauve Pale Veau Epsom PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA gorgeous Hermès 25cm Kelly bag. The exterior of this Kelly features a Sellier style in Mauve Pale Veau Epsom leather. The Mauve Pale Epsom leather is comp...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Top Handle Bags
- Rare Hermès Birkin 25cm Gris Caillou Grizzly/ Gris Meyer Swift PHWBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA rare Hermès Birkin 25cm handbag. The Grizzly Birkin is the namesake edition designed to showcase Veau Doblis Suede. The exterior of this Birkin is cra...Category
2010s French Top Handle Bags