Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace
Image:Gianni.jpg
Personal Information
Name	Gianni Versace
Nationality	Italian
Birth date	2 Dec 1946
Birth place	Reggio Calabria
Date of death	15 July 1997 (aged 50)
Place of death	Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Working Life
Label Name	Versace

Gianni Versace (December 2, 1946 – July 15, 1997) was an accomplished Italian designer of both clothing and theater costumes. He was influenced by Andy Warhol, Ancient Roman and Greek art as well as modern abstract art; he is considered one of the most colorful and talented designers of the late 20th century.

Biography

Early life

Gianni Versace was born in Reggio di Calabria, Italy, where he grew up with his siblings Santo and Donatella, along with their father and dressmaker mother, Francesca.

Gianni began his apprenticeship at a young age, helping his mother find precious stones and gold braid with which to embroider dresses. He studied architecture before moving to Milan at the age of 25 to work in fashion design.

In the mid-Seventies, his knits drew the attention of head-hunters at Genny and Callaghan. Complice hired him to design their leather and suede collections, and a few years later, encouraged by his success, Versace presented his first signature collection for women at the Palazzo della Permanente Art Museum of Milan. His first menswear collection followed in September of the same year.

Death

The designer battled with a rare cancer of the inner ear. He was presumed to be in remission when, one July morning in the summer of 1997, returning from his customary walk on Ocean Drive, he was gunned down outside his ocean-front mansion in Miami Beach, Florida. He was murdered by spree killer Andrew Cunanan, who committed suicide shortly after the murder. Police reported that Andrew Cunanan had committed suicide using the same handgun that had been used to murder Gianni Versace.^[1] He was buried in Lake Como, Italy.

In September 1997, Versace's brother Santo Versace was announced as the new CEO of the Versace holding. Gianni's sister, Donatella Versace, is the new head of design. Elton John dedicated his 1997 album The Big Picture to Versace.

Filmography

Costume designer

• Ballet for tino (1997)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Shakespeare Shorts (1996, TV series)
• Showgirls (1995)
• Kika (1993)
• Vacanze di Natale (also known as Christmas Vacations, 1991)
• Cin cin (also known as A Fine Romance, 1991)
• As Long as It's Love (1989)
• Miami Vice (1989, TV series)

Actor

• Catwalk (1996)

Awards

• Versace was awarded the coveted American Fashion Oscar on February 1, 1993.
• President of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga, confers the decoration of "Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana" on him on January 24, 1986.

Notes

Wikipedia information about Gianni Versace This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Gianni Versace". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.