From our blog itReggioCalabria
This is a story we tell starting from the end. It is July 15, 1997, a morning like many others in Miami Beach, among palm trees and millionaire villas. Along those tree-lined avenues stands Casa Casuarina, the luxurious residence where the designer Gianni Versace lives with his historical partner Antonio D'Amico.
That morning in mid-July, upon returning from the usual walk, the Versace star meets its dramatic epilogue. The stylist is found lifeless. The gun hand that killed him with two gunshots belongs to Andrew Cunanan. The killer already has other murders behind him, he will be found suicidal a few weeks later. The star Versace has died, but his brand, like an extraordinary dream, will continue to live.
From the Versace tailoring to the Milanese catwalks
We know that the story of the brightest stars always begins in dim light. It was like that for Gianni Versace too. The designer was born in Reggio Calabria December 2, 1946. Being born in a difficult land probably spurred him to find within himself the strength to emerge. So much so that from an early age he gave impetus to his creativity. The first rudiments of the trade which, in his hands became art, he learned at an early age, among the fabrics of his mother Francesca's atelier.
Even today, in the center of the Calabrian city, near the cathedral, it is possible to find a Versace boutique. The elegant shop is located in the same place where the maternal tailoring was located at the time. In that atelier, the passion for fashion and the innate talent of the future world-famous designer make their way.
The years of the Milanese apprenticeship
Like many of his peers, even for Gianni Versace, success must be pursued far from his homeland. In fact, in the early seventies he moved to Milan In the Italian capital of high fashion he put his skills and his creative flow to good use. The Lombard capital is a sort of Mecca for every aspiring stylist. It will be there, in those years, that Versace will obtain the first satisfactions in the professional field. However, we will have to wait until 1978 to finally see a women's collection signed with her name on the catwalk. Up to that moment the designer has been busy designing collections for other fashion houses including Florentine Flowers or De Parisini in Santa Margherita.
It is the artist's classic apprenticeship: the young Versace is tenacious, he intends to reach the Olympus of fashion. However, it is still time to learn and get ahead. It is the time of sowing. The harvest, however, was not long in coming.
The Versace brand, a family business
Gianni is not alone. He never was, even when he had to leave his home. The family has always been that cord of protection and support that has held him by the hand since his first steps in mother Francesca's tailor shop. In fact, a few years after his arrival in Milan, in 1976, his brother Santo joined him. The latter is older than Gianni, more experienced on the economic side. Santo Versace is not an artist properly understood. His professional field has nothing to do with fabrics and patterns. He works with numbers, statistics and money. On his business card there is a degree in economics and commerce and a professional studio in Messina. His arrival at the side of his younger brother just at the moment when he is making a name for himself is therefore providential.
With Santo in Milan, a new scenario opens up on Gianni's ambitions: a personal brand. The two brothers' project is also shared by their friend Claudio Luti. So much so that shortly thereafter, in 1978, the Gianni Versace Spa it enters to all intents and purposes the Gotha of Italian and world fashion. Since 1997, the year of the tragic death, the brand has been managed by Santo and his sister Donatella, who have honored the enormous legacy of their designer brother with creativity and resourcefulness. Donatella joined the company in 1988, called by her older brothers to launch the brand's youth line: the Versus. Once again, the family is the glue and strength of the Versace brand.
The love of a life
But a family is a living organism that expands. It incorporates new faces and ever deeper feelings into its hugs. In this sense, and in a period when still associating the word family with a homosexual couple seemed impossible, Versace finds love. The solid one with which to build a life plan. In fact, in addition to professional satisfactions, the Eighties also began with the birth of an intense and lasting relationship with Antonio D'Amico, a former model and designer. The latter will accompany Versace until that tragic 15 July 1997. It was D'Amico himself who found the lifeless body of the designer, so much so that for many years he suffered from a deep depression.
Versace at the theater and conquering the world
These are also the years of interest in the theater and expansion to foreign markets. In the first case, for example, Gianni Versace designed the costumes for the ballet season of La Scala in Milan and for Donizetti's Don Pasquale at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan.
In the second, however, the brand begins to be launched first in France and England, then in the United States thanks also to the Versus line. These were the years in which Versace's creations met the most fashionable top models of the time, such as Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford.
Versace style, an unmistakable trait
Varsace was considered a revolutionary stylist, the characteristics of his style were so original. The peculiarity of his creations lay above all in the mixture of materials. In order to pursue a final product that combined sensuality with both beauty and daring, the Versace style tended to mix fabrics and materials together. In his creations, therefore, elements that had never touched before found their point of conjunction.
On the most important catwalks in the world models wearing combinations of silk and leather paraded. The printed motifs married the embroidery; wire meshes defied plastic. Versace's inspiration, so dazzling and innovative, could have shone for many more years had it not been for that tragic 15th of July. However the explosive force of his creativity was not silenced by two gunshots, but thanks to the commitment and dedication of her sister Donatella it still shines today.
