His designs are innovative, almost risque, the genius behind them apparent.
GIANNI VERSACE - A SHORT BIOGRAPHY
1946 Gianni Versace was born in Reggio Calabria on December 2.
1972 At the age of 25 he decides to move to Milan and works as a fashion designer, drawing his first pret-a-porter collections for Genny, Complice and Callaghan.
1975 He presents his first leather collection, created for Complice.
1978 On March 28 he presensts his first collection for Women signed with his own name in a fashion show at the Palazzo della Permanente, in Milan.
1979 Versace, who has always paid great attention to his image, starts a fortunate collaboration with the American photographer Richard Avedon.
1982 Versace wins the first of a series of awards that will crown his career: "L'Occhio d'Oro" for the best fashion designer of the 1982/83 Fall/Winter collection for women; in this collection he displays the famous metal garments, now a classic feature of his fashion. The same year, he begins a collaboration with the Teatro alla Scala and designs costumes for the Richard Strauss' ballet "Josephlegende"; the stage design is by the painter Luigi Veronesi.
1983 He creates the costumes for Gustav Mahler's ballet "Lieb und Leid" and on October 21, with the Comune di Milano's patronage, the show. "E' Design" opens its doors at the Padiglione di Arte Contemporanea where Gianni Versace displays a synthesis of his technological research.
1984 Versace creates the costumes for Donizetti's "Don Pasquale" and for the ballet "Dyonisos" directed by Maurice Bejart, both held at the Teatro alla Scala. In October, at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, the Belgian choreographer creates a triptych danse in honour of the launch of the fragrance for men "Versace l'Homme".
1985 In Paris, on the occasion of the European presentation of the same fragrance, a contemporary art show is organized, bringing together the works of internationally renowned artists concerning Versace's fashion. Young people have always been a major source of inspiration for Versace and on October 2, the fashion designer is at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London to give a talk on his fashion for a large group of students, and to illustrate the show "Arte e moda".
1986 A year in which awards and shows intertwine. On January 24, the President of the Italian Republic Francesco Cossiga confers the decoration of "Commendatore della Repubblica Italiana" on him; the National Field Museum in Chicago presents a major retrospective show on the work of Versace in the last ten years. On October 22, in Paris, during the show "Gianni Versace: Obiettivo Moda", illustrating the professional collaboration between Versace and internationally renowned photographers (Avedon, Newton, Penn, Weber, Barbieri, Gastel, etc.), Jacques Chirac assigns the "Grande Medaille de Vermeil de la Ville de Paris" to Versace. On November 14, the premiere of the ballet "La metamorphose des dieux" by Malraux is presented in Brussels. The costumes are designed by Gianni Versace and the choreography is by Maurice Bejart.
1987 In January Bob Wilson stages Richard Strauss "Salome" for the Scala and asks Versace to design the costumes; on March 31, Bejart presents "Leda and the Swan" at the Scala, with costumes by Versace; on April 7, the book "Versace Teatro" published by Franco Maria Ricci.is presented. In June, Gianni Versace goes to Russia in the retinue of Bejart, for whom he designs the costumes of the "Ballet du XX Siecle" broadcasted throughout the world from Leningrad within the programm "The white nights of dance".
In September Versace's huge professional contribution to the theatre is rewarded with the "Maschera D'Argento" prize. On September 21, "Souvenir de Leningrad", a ballet by Bejart's new dance company, makes its debut in Lausanne, and even on this occasion Versace's contribution is crucial.
1988 Versace goes to Paris to design the stage costumes for Zizi Jeanmaire's last recital at the Bouffes du Nord; on March 30, in Brussels, alongside Maurice Bejart, he presents the costumes for the ballet inspired by Evita Peron in an absolute premiere at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie. On June 8, the jury of the "Cutty Sark" nominates him the most creative and innovative fashion designer for men; in September Versace opens a 600 sqm. showroom in Madrid, his first boutique in Spain. On December 20 he is once again in Paris to design the costumes for the ballet "Java Forever", with Zizi Jenamaire, presented at the Opera Comique to celebrate the Bicentenary of the French Revolution.
1989 On January 25, the opening of the "Atelier Versace" - a workshop where high fashion models are created - is announced at a soiree held at the Gare d'Orsay, attended by Madame Mitterand, where also the film "The fortune of friendship" recounting the relationship between Versace and Maurice Bejart, is presented. On April 13, the exhibition "L'abito per pensare", is inaugurated at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, through historical and social interpretations, it displays 25 years of activity in fashion and in the theatre, a crucial stage in the evolution of the history of costume. On May 16, on the occasion of the celebration for the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, Bejart invites him to Paris to design the costumes of the ballet "Chaka Zulu", inspired by L. Senghor's poem. On July 6, in Milan, Versace presents "Versus", a new line for young people - manufactured by the Manifatture Itierre of the Gruppo Pantrem, - which explores informal themes and puts itself forward as an alternative to so-called conventional ways of dressing. On November 14 there is yet another ballet: Bejart stages:"Elegie pour Elle" at the Cirque Royal in Brussels, and the Costumes are designed by Versace once again.
1990 The "Atelier" collection is presented in a fashion show at the Hotel Ritz, Paris, in the early part of the year; in April Versace opens his second boutique in New York, and the eleventh in the United States, in the prestigious Madison Avenue.
