In the 1970s, Gianni Versace was an up-and-coming fashion designer living in and working out of Milan. By 1972, he had designed his first collection for Callaghan, Genny, and Complice. This collection received high praises in the fashion world, but Gianni still had dreams about starting his own fashion brand.
In 1978, Gianni Versace made that dream a reality by opening the very first Versace boutique in Milan’s Via della Spiga. At the time that he opened this boutique, Gianni was one of the only designers in the industry to control every aspect of his brand. This level of control allowed Gianni to guide Versace per his exact vision, from how his clothing was designed to how it was displayed and marketed and beyond.
For the first four years, Versace sold only designer clothing. In 1982, however, the company began to expand by offering other products such as designer accessories, furniture, and fine China under the Versace brand.
Nevertheless, it was the clothing and apparel that Versace would become famous for. While Gianni’s eye for design no doubt played a major role in Versace’s success, there was another factor that helped establish Versace as one of the premiere fashion brands in the world – Gianni’s connections to the music industry and his innovative approach to marketing.
Gianni Versace was close friends with a number of high-profile stars in the music industry including Elton John, Eric Clapton, Naomi Campbell, Cher, Madonna, the members of Duran Duran, and many others. When these celebrity friends of Gianni began showing up for photoshoots and awards ceremonies wearing the Versace brand, people took notice. Gianni Versace became one of the first designers to link the music industry to the fashion industry, and it was a match that brought rich rewards to the Versace brand. Suddenly, everyone was wanting to wear the same dress that Cher had on or the same belt that Elton John was wearing – and that meant a flood of new customers for Versace.
In 1997, though, tragedy struck. On July 15, 1997, 50 year old Gianni Versace was returning to his Miami Beach mansion when he was shot and killed by Andrew Cunnan. Cunnan was obsessed with Gianni Versace and was known for often bragging about his close relationship with the designer. However, there’s disagreement on whether Gianni and Andrew Cunnan had even met before prior to the murder, and most are quite certain that the two men did not have a close relationship. Either way, though, Andrew Cunnan robbed the world of one its most talented designers before taking his own life with the same gun eight days later.
Following Gianni Versace’s tragic death, the brand was taken over by his siblings, Donatella and Santo Versace. Santo became the CEO of the company while Donatella took over the role of creative director.
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