The Versace firm reached the world celebrity in the 1980s, thanks in part to a shrewd association with entertainment stars, as Giorgio Armani does. Hollywood stars and pop singers began to choose this brand to dress in their parties, concerts and films. Among these clients were Liz Taylor, Elton John and Diego Armando Maradona. But unlike Armani, synonymous with sobriety and stylization, Gianni Versace imposed an exuberant and very bold aesthetic in color and materials, almost garish and kitsch, with fluo and golden tones, baroque to vampirise aesthetics of past centuries (Pompeii, mannerism).
In 1994 the (until then modest) actress Liz Hurley jumped to the planetary fame when wearing a dress Versace of vertiginous cleavage, as soon as caught by some safety pins. A few years later, the controversial film Showgirls included a dialogue where her protagonist Elizabeth Berkley alluded to her Versace dress and retorted about how to correctly pronounce the Italian surname. Gianni Versace was born in Reggio di Calabria on December 2, 1946, where she grew up with her Holy older brother, his younger sister Donatella, his father, and his mother Francesca. He had an older sister, Tina, who died at age 12 due to a tetanus infection that was not treated properly. Gianni began his apprenticeship at an early age, helping his mother find precious stones and gold threads to embroider dresses . He studied architecture before moving to Milan at age 16 to work in fashion design. He met Antonio D'Amico, a model, in 1982. The couple embarked on a relationship that lasted fifteen years, until the sudden death of Versace . During that time Antonio was a designer for the Versace sports line.
Versace left her partner D'Amico a lifetime monthly pension of 50 million lire (approximately $ 26,000 dollars), and the right to occupy any of the Versace residences in Italy and the United States. D'Amico now has his own fashion design company. On the morning of July 15 in the summer of 1997, returning from his usual walk down the Ocean Drive promenade in Miami, Versace was shot in front of his mansion overlooking the sea in Miami Beach. He was killed by Andrew Phillip Cunnanan, who committed suicide shortly after the murder and his body was found in a houseboat.7 The police ruled that Cunnanan committed suicide with the same gun he used to kill Versace and it was also learned that the murderer he had been at his house two days before the crime.8
Versace was buried in the town of Como, in Italy. In September 1997 it was announced that Santo Versace and Jorge Saud were the new owners of Versace's assets. Gianni's sister, Donatella Versace, was the new leader of the design department. Elton John dedicated his album The Big Picture, published in 1997, to Versace.
In her will, Versace left 50% of her fashion empire to Allegra Beck, her niece, daughter of Donatella. Upon reaching the age of majority in 2004, Allegra inherited around 500 million dollars (50% of the company) from the Versace fashion empire. He has the last word in the sale and other details in the Versace clothing line. Allegra was barely eleven years old when her uncle was murdered.
