Vintage Gianni Versace Couture Top Handle Metal Ring Handbag, 1990s
View Similar Items
Vintage Gianni Versace Couture Top Handle Metal Ring Handbag, 1990s
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Austin, TX
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1618131402
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.
Gianni Versace Couture
Subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive, Gianni Versace’s (1946–97) designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos. “I don’t believe in good taste,” the legendary Italian couturier once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
Today, vintage Versace clothing, handbags and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant. The designer debuted his Atelier Versace line — which was part of the first Versace haute couture collection — in 1989.
More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration. In fact, 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! '90” — the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace was born in Reggio di 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, Versace 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 1989's Gianni Versace Couture — 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. This 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 Couture bags, dresses and more on 1stDibs.
- Renaud Pellegrino Yellow Satin Flap Bag with Beaded HandleBy Renaud PellegrinoLocated in Austin, TXRenaud Pellegrino yellow satin flap bag with beaded handle. Condition: Very good. 8" W x 6.5" H x 2" D 7" shoulder strap dropCategory
1990s French Shoulder Bags
- Paloma Picasso Leather Bucket BagBy Paloma PicassoLocated in Austin, TXPaloma Picasso red leather bucket bag. Condition: Very good.Category
1980s American Top Handle Bags
- 1980s Edouard Rambaud Mini Satin Evening Bag with CrystalsBy Edouard RambaudLocated in Austin, TX1980s Edouard Rambaud Mini Satin Evening Bag with Metal Handle with Crystals. Condition: Excellent. 7.5"L x 5.5"W x 5"HCategory
1980s French Evening Bags and Minaudières
- 1990s Gianni Versace Couture mini evening bag with crystal handleBy Gianni Versace Couture, Gianni VersaceLocated in Austin, TXGianni Versace Couture 1990s black nylon mini bag with drawstring, crystal encrusted handle, snap to close and Medusa. Condition: very good.Category
1990s Italian Evening Bags and Minaudières
- 1990s Jean Paul Gaultier Silk Evening GownBy Jean Paul GaultierLocated in Austin, TX1990s Jean Paul Gaultier Black Silk Evening Gown. ribbon lacing up back. Condition: Excellent size S/ M 21.5" bust, 26" waist, 50" hip, 63.5" lengthCategory
1990s French Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Thierry Mugler Heels sz 8By Thierry MuglerLocated in Austin, TXThierry Mugler Heels sz 8 condition: Good, some all over wear shoes may run 1/2 size smaller due to vintage sizingCategory
1990s Italian Shoes
- 2008 Chanel Mademoiselle patent leather frame bagBy ChanelLocated in Miami, FLWorn by Kim K. in a larger version In excellent condition minor wrinkles to patent leather on bottom of bag. Can be worn as a wrist satchel, top handle bag or a...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Top Handle Bags
- Judith Leiber Rare Vintage Alligator Kelly Flap BagBy Judith LeiberLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe Vintage Kelly Flap style Alligator bag from Judith Leiber is one of the famed luxury goods house's most coveted and exclusive items. This flap bag is ba...Category
1980s Italian Top Handle Bags
- Yayoi Kusama Limited Edition Lockit Louis Vuitton BagBy Louis VuittonLocated in Palm Beach, FLYayoi Kusama Limited Edition Lockit Louis Vuitton Bag, in good condition. This Lockit bag is made from black monogram nylon and features black and whi...Category
2010s Italian Top Handle Bags
- Vintage 1940's Black Beaded Box BagLocated in Cheltenham, GBThis breathtaking 1940's large rectangle box bag, with brass metal features is the perfect finishing piece to your ensemble. The rectangle shape of the bag, box an exterior of black...Category
1940s Top Handle Bags
- Celine Trapeze Medium Tri-Color Suede and Leather HandbagBy CelineLocated in Boca Raton, FLCompany-Celine Model-Trapeze Medium Color-Tri Color White Black and Orange Date Code-S-AT-4184 S-CU-5104 Material-Leather and Suede Measurements-11.75" L x 7"W x 8.25" H Strap-14....Category
2010s Italian Structured Shoulder Bags
- Black Alligator Handbag with Gold Tone Link HardwareLocated in valatie, NYBlack alligator handbag with matching double straps and gold-tone link hardware. It has double accordion construction, a two-tone push-button closure and a wide hinged opening. The ...Category
1950s Top Handle Bags