
Gianni Versace Medusa Earrings Silver
View Similar Items
Gianni Versace Medusa Earrings Silver
About the Designer
Versace
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.
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” — as 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, 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. 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 Versace evening dresses, handbags, day dresses, accessories and more on 1stDibs.
- Garnet, Rhodolite, Zircon Chandelier 18K Yellow Gold Earrings with DiamondBy Valentin MagroLocated in New York, NYThe body is 18k yellow gold, brightened with pave set round brilliant cut diamonds. Above is a cushion shaped rhombus, enclosing four diamonds and four garnets. Another diamond sits ...Category
2010s American Art Deco Dangle Earrings
MaterialsZircon, Diamond, Garnet, Rhodolite, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold
- 7 Carat Colombian Emerald Cut Emerald Diamond Hanging/Drop Earrings 18Karat GoldLocated in New York, NY7 Carat Colombian Emerald Cut Emerald Diamond Hanging Earrings 18 K White Gold This exquisite pair of earrings are beautifully crafted with 18 kara...Category
2010s Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Emerald, 18k Gold
$18,000Free Shipping - 150 Carat Emerald Beads and Diamond Hanging/ Drop Earrings 14 Karat Yellow GoldLocated in New York, NY150 Carats Emerald Beads & Diamond Hanging Earrings 14 K Gold This exquisite pair of earrings are beautifully crafted with 14 karat yellow gold 150 Carats of fine emerald beads...Category
2010s Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Emerald, 14k Gold
- 45 Carat Ruby Drop and Diamond Hanging/Chandelier Earrings 14 Karat Yellow GoldLocated in New York, NY45 Carats of two Ruby drops and Diamond Hanging Earrings 14 K Yellow Gold This exquisite pair of earrings are beautifully crafted with 14 karat Yellow gold weighing 15 gram...Category
Early 2000s Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Ruby, 14k Gold
- 89 Carat Colombian Emerald Briolettes & Diamond Hanging Drop Earrings 18 Kt GoldLocated in New York, NY89 Carats Colombian Emerald Briolettes and Diamonds Hanging Earrings 18 Karat white Gold. No professional Video was taken , I took the video from my I phone . Piece is much more bea...Category
Early 2000s Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Emerald, 18k Gold, Gold
$32,000Free Shipping - 140 Carat Colombian Emerald Briolettes Hanging Drop Earrings 18 Karat GoldLocated in New York, NY140 Carats Emerald Briolettes Hanging Earrings 18 Karat Gold. This exquisite pair of earrings are beautifully crafted with 18 karat yellow gold w...Category
2010s Dangle Earrings
MaterialsDiamond, Emerald, 18k Gold