Rare Gianni Versace Leather Lighter Case with Medusa
View Similar Items
Rare Gianni Versace Leather Lighter Case with Medusa
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: J140716238768
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.
- New Hermès Accessories and Shoe Kit Leather Case TrunkBy HermèsLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLThe Limited edition Hermès shoe kit case, from the grand opening of the men’s store on Madison Ave is finely crafted in box leather. It incorporates a classic...Category
Early 2000s French Novelty Bags
- Hermès Sanguine Mini Kelly Twilly Bag CharmBy HermèsLocated in London, GBA charming accessory - an adorable Hermès Mini Kelly Twilly bag charm. The exterior of this Kelly bag charm features a Sanguine Tadelakt leath...Category
21st Century and Contemporary French Wallets and Small Accessories
- Mariano Fortuny Rare Black Stencilled Velvet Drawstring BagBy FortunyLocated in Riverdale, NYFortunys stenciled velvet drawstring bags found a use for small pieces of his precious velvets, their sizes vary due to the dimensions of the cuts.They are exceedingly rare.
<...CategoryEarly 20th Century Italian Art Deco Pouches and Wristlets
Price Upon Request - 1990s Christian Dior Black Leather Wallet with Logo CharmBy Christian DiorLocated in 'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, NLThis beautiful 1990s calfskin Christian Dior black wallet with a golden charm logo is a classic and iconic accessory. During the 1990s, D...Category
1990s French Wallets
$299 Sale Price45% Off - RARE! Christian Dior & John Galliano 2005 organizer - roll storing accessoriesBy John Galliano for Christian Dior, Christian DiorLocated in Алматинский Почтамт, KZRARE! Christian Dior & John Galliano 2005 organizer -roll storing accessories John Galliano for Christian Dior Collection: 2005 Christian Dior style...Category
Early 2000s Spanish Wallets and Small Accessories
- Hermès Rodeo PM 2022By HermèsLocated in Rubiera, REHermès Rodeo Talisman PM bag charm Collection 2022 Lambskin in Violet, Saphir, Bleu France New in BoxCategory
2010s French Wallets and Small Accessories
$1,312