| Capital: | € 1.7 billion |
| Age: | 73 |
| Born: | 12/02/1946 |
| Country of origin: | Italy |
| Source of wealth: | Entrepreneurs |
| Last updated: | 2020 |
Short introduction
Gianni Versace (born December 2, 1946 – July 15, 1997) – Italian fashion designer and founder of Versace International Fashion House, which produces perfume, cosmetics, accessories, clothing and household goods. Versace makes costumes for film, theater and opera production. He was a friend of Eric Clapton, Diana’s daughter of Wales, Naomi Campbell, Duran Duran, Madonna, Elton John, Cher, Sting and many other celebrities. One of the first fashion designers to combine fashion and music. Gianni and his partner Antonio D’Amiko regularly attended fashion parties.
On July 15, 1997, Versace was killed by Serial Killer Andrew Kunenen on the doorstep of his house, Casa Casuarina, in Miami Beach, Florida, at the age of 50.
Early life
Giovanni Maria Versace was born on December 2, 1946 in Reggio Calabria, Italy, in the Jarutstress family Francesca Versace and her husband. Gianni grew up with his brother and sister Donatella. Gianni’s sister Tina died because of tetanus at the age of 12 years. In his youth, Gianni liked the history of ancient Greece, which played a leading role in the development of Italy. He attended Lyceum Classico Tommaso Campanella, where he studied Latin and ancient Greece, but did not complete the course. American artist Andy Warhol also has a big influence on him.
Career
He began his career in his hometown in Francesca Versace’s fashion studio, which belonged to his mother. Studio’s main customers are representatives from wealthy families in the Calabria region – the wives of business people and top managers. Gianni helped his mother sew clothes, get accessories and also get cloth. Here he learns sketches, drawing, cutting cloth and sewing clothes. In 1972 Versace moved to Milan and became a guest designer of several fashion lanes, including Genny, Callaghan and Ketib. In 1973 he became a Byblos designer, the youth line from Genny Fashion House, and in 1977 developed its complicated line with his own request.
On March 28, 1978, Versace presented the collection of the first women’s clothing brand at Palazzo Della Permanente Art Museum in Milan. The first full fashion show took place in September in the same year. In 1978 Gianni opened a boutique on Milan’s most prestigious shopping road – Via Della Spiga. Also in 1978, Gianni founded his own fashion home, Gianni Versace Spa, and appointed his sister Santo as his president and sister Donatella as vice president. Donatella is responsible for creative supervision and acts as Versace’s main advisor. Gianni also recruited Donatella’s husband Paul Beck as a male clothing line director.
In the 1980s, Gianni developed clothes for his own brand and explored a new business area. In 1981 he launched Wangi Gianni Versace woman, in 1984 the Aroma of the son of L’Homme. In 1982, Versace expanded its business by producing jewelry and household appliances including furniture, textiles, and tableware under Versace Home Brand.
In 1989, Versace declared himself in the world of Haute Couture and began creating a Couture Haute collection under the brand and performing showers of Atelier Versace at the Ritz hotel in Paris. He uses the most famous photographers and models for advertising campaigns and fashion shows in the 1980s and 1990s. His fashion home products were represented by Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and many others.
He grows the top model of the top model intensively, paying his extraordinary fashion model and forming their image as a superstar in a mass culture. According to Donatella Versace, “Gianni created this phenomenon by bringing the best model to the podium at the same time.”
Gianni Versace reached the peak of his fame in the early 1990s with his famous client – Madonna and Putri Wales Diana.
Career highlights
Versace was shot by Andrew Kunenen on the Casa Casuarina Mansion in the Miami beach on the morning of July 15, 1997 after returning from the streets throughout the ocean. Usually Versace sent his assistant to the morning newspaper to the news cafe, but on that decisive day, he decided to go alone. Versace’s death was recorded at 9:21 a.m. At Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Eight days later, Künenen committed suicide at the boat house surrounded by a police ring. Künenen was obsessed with Versace and often boasted his acquaintances with famous fashion designers and other famous people. The FBI agent believes Versace and Kunenen meets in San Francisco, but is not sure what relationships they have. Reporter Maureen Orth published an article at Vanity Fair Magazine in 2008 claiming that Künenen and Versace met at the San Francisco nightclub in 1990 and tended to get closer. However, the Versace family always firmly denies the fact that Gianni and the killer together.
Gianni Versace’s body was cremated and ash buried in the basement at Maltrasio Cemetery (Cernobbio municipality) near Lake Como.
Famous quotes
Decide who you are, what you want to express your way and the way you live. …
In the past, people were born kingdom. … I’m not interested in the past, except as a way to the future. …
Don’t get into the trend. … it’s the key to this collection, being yourself.
