Gianni Versace - Part 1

“I have no desire to give lectures on the subject of fashion. I put my money on feelings: wear it and enjoy It.” – Gianni Versace

Ah yes, GV, as he was fondly known back in the late 80s and especially among a group of young and enthusiastic catwalk models that was getting more and more influenced by the fashion icons of that era.

I must admittedly say that I belonged to that group of young models that treated “Cosmopolitan” like a Bible for the fashion believers! Though it was rather expensive buying each months issues but I had to have it no matter what as I loved fashion, modeling, the images, practically everything about the fashion world and I was only 19 when I first enrolled into a modeling and grooming school to learn the skills of modeling and social etiquette and behavior. It was worth it because it has taught me things that I don’t see happening in current modeling agencies.

Enough already about me, I started to write about Gianni Versace because he was one of the international fashion designers that I loved and admired. First of all his designs back in the late 80s early 90s were captivating, sexy, seductive, feminine and yet independent and individualistic. Well that what I gathered when I see his designs with the roman print, embellishments and silhouettes. I adored him and his design; his models that he knew would make such an impact wearing his designs like Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista. But I want to share more about him and read on so maybe you could learn something new that you didn’t know about GV.

Gianni Versace’s talent was immediately evident with the presentation of his first tow collections, one designed for Florentine Flowers in 1972 and the other for Callaghan in the following year. Versace, then twenty-five years old, had been breathing fashion since his childhood, which he spent partly in his mother’s dressmaking workshop. As a young designer, he advocated and expressive freedom which set his work apart and which would make his name synonymous with daring, provocation, and the aesthetic sublimation of desire. It has been said that he rewrote the logic of appearances.

GV’s importance to the history of fashion lies mainly in his having carried the seduction of the unusual to extremes. He did so by audaciously introducing stereotypes of vulgarity in the world of haute bourgeoisie – lunging necklines and miniskirts, sheath dresses, and gaudy accessories – and by using apparently improbable combinations of fabrics, colors, and prints. Throughout the 80s, GV’s style created a new fashion-media relationship, helping to establish an icon of a life-style, and reinforcing the importance of clothing in the social imagination. Asymmetrical cuts, layering, draping, optical designs, metallic mesh, and the use of studs and lace are some if GV’s aesthetic “inventions” that have become his trademark. He was also one of the first designers to totally reinvent certain materials. In his winter collections of 1983/84, he replaced the weave in his tweeds, creating a striped effect, and in his 1994 collections he experimented with printing on polyurethane and the use of rubber. His desire to reinvent materials led him to explore previously unthinkable combinations such as leather and silk, jute and gold, metallic mesh and faux gems – working always in the service of a feminine aesthetic.

For more of Gianni Versace, look out for Part 2.