Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace, the Prince of Fashion, his life was cut short during his prime. His designs are innovative, almost risque, the genius behind them apparent.

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. 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: LOcchio dOro 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 Mahlers ballet Lieb und Leid and on October 21, with the Comune di Milanos 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 Donizettis 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 lHomme. 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 Versaces 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 ...