Versace. The fashion brand known for its bright colors, revealing clothing,
and the famous Medusa logo. Today, the company is worth well over $2 billion dollars,
and yet it was all started by a kid who came from an extremely poor small town.
Versace’s rise to the top in the world of luxury fashion is incredible - however this is not just
a business success story. You see, Versace’s life was cut short, when he was murdered in cold blood.
Gianni Versace was born in Italy in 1946 in, in a very poor town with very
few work opportunities. Many people were illiterate, and the local economy was so
bad that people moved to other cities to find opportunities as coal miners and farm hands.
Despite their surroundings, his mother, Francesca,
made her career as a dressmaker while his father Antonio was an appliance salesman.
Their family was able to stay in their home town and work their way into the middle-class.
They were one of the only families in the town who could afford to buy a car and television.
However, all was not well in the Versace household. You see, Gianni had two siblings-
his brother Santo, and sister Fortunata. And on a family trip to a carnival in 1952, his sister
scraped her knee and contracted tetanus. The doctor then treated her with the wrong medicine,
and within 24 hours, she was dead at the age of 10, still wearing her party dress.
Through this grief, Gianni’s parents decided to have another child. This was Donatella.
Gianni was 10 years old at the time, and they would go on to become best friends.
Growing up, Gianni would spend a lot of time in his mother’s dress shop, watching her as she made
her customers feel like the most beautiful women in the world. In fact, he spent so much time in
the dress shop that his mother was worried that he wasn’t spending enough time with his friends.
Gianni was also considered to be a troublemaker. He was failing almost all of his classes,
and he would skip school to go to the beach. When he received an allowance,
he would immediately spend it all on clothes, fashion magazines, and concert tickets.
His parents were worried for him, because he seemed to have no direction in life. They wanted
him to go to college, but it was clear from an early age that he just wasn’t cut out for it.
One day, his mother was called into school for a parent-teacher conference. The teacher
showed his mother his notebooks, and they were filled with sketches of women. His
teacher called him a “sex maniac”, but his mother was able to recognize that
he wasn’t really drawing the women - it was the dresses on these figures that stood out.
When High School was coming to an end, there was an exam that Gianni had to take in order
to graduate. But he cared so little about school, that he skipped it completely, and never received
a diploma. His father was furious of course, and believed that he was throwing his life away.
But Gianni already knew what he wanted to do - he immediately began working full
time in his mother’s dress shop, and learned everything he could about the fashion business.
In 1965, when Gianni was 19 years old, his mother decided to open a boutique next to her workshop
so that he could branch out on his own. He named the shop “Elle di Francesca Versace”,
and began traveling around Europe to buy some of the best pieces he could find. During these trips,
he was able to make friends with several designers who would go on to be famous, like Karl Lagerfeld.
However, when Gianna first returned from his travels,
his mother was horrified with the clothes he’d brought back to sell. They were considered very
revealing - especially for their quiet little coastal town. He was buying short cocktail
dresses that showed off a woman’s legs, and pieces that were considered provocative.
But he had a keen eye for what younger women wanted. Soon,
the women in town began flocking to the boutique.
His risky choices had paid off, and with that,
Gianni Versace had started his first successful business.
While Gianni was stocking his boutique with the newest fashions, his mother was also teaching
him how to make dresses, so he could turn his own original design ideas into reality.
They would go on trips to clothing manufacturers, and Gianni always carried his sketchbook with him.
This is where he met the owners of a knitwear brand called Florentine
Flowers. Once they saw the designs in his sketchbook, they asked him to work
with them in Tuscany when he was 25 years old. It was an exciting new opportunity for Gianni,
so he agreed to move to Tuscany - and within just a few months, his new bosses were so impressed by
the success of his first collection, that they bought him a brand new Volkswagen convertible.
At 26, he decided that it was time to explore the even bigger fashion world of Milan. He began
freelancing by designing pieces for brands like Callaghan, Genny, Complice, and Mario Valentino.
It was clear to everyone that Gianni was talented, and that his work was worth an
incredible amount of money. For example, after working to revamp Genny’s outdated fashion line,
their clothing sales tripled from $2 million to $6 million per year.
For 6 years, Gianni spent time freelancing and networking with people in the Milan fashion
industry. He was able to get so many contracts that he made well into six figures per year.
Finally, he decided that it was time to show the world who he was. He gathered his
portfolio of pieces and secured an exhibit at a famous Art Museum in Milan. He was a little
nervous about this, but he had no need to be - People loved his style so much that he began
receiving requests from clients who wanted him to make dresses for them. This was the
first time he worked directly with customers, rather than designing for someone else’s brand.
But it wasn’t until 1978, when he was 32, that he finally opened his own fashion line. Now,
launching a new fashion brand isn’t cheap,
but Gianni secured financial backing from a wealthy Italian family who believed in his
work. All of his networking in the fashion industry was really paying off - literally.
Gianni really valued family, and appointed his brother Santo as CEO, and his sister Donatella
as vice president. Both of them helped him launch the company Gianni Versace SpA.
With the funding he’d received, he was able to open a boutique in one of the
best locations for fashion in Milan. When he first opened the shop, there was just one
single rack of dresses in the store. But he was so talented with what he showed in the window,
it was enough to have women coming in to shop. And with that, the Versace brand was
at the very beginning of its journey, to making everyone in his family, multi-millionaires.
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Gianni’s sister Donatella moved to Milan in order to help him run the business. But after a while,
she grew bored with her duties as Vice President. She was still a very young
woman in her early 20’s trying to figure out what she wanted to do in life. Eventually,
she decided that she wanted to be a fashion designer as well. So Gianni began a new
line called Versus, just so that Donatella could sell her designs in the Versace store.
Gianni was known for using innovative materials for his clothing. He would go as far as to use
aluminum mesh, leather, rubber, lace, and just about anything to make his clothing.
This mix of materials was very uncommon, and really made him stand out from the crowd.
Gianni Versace’s designs were also known for being revealing. He received a lot of
criticism from both the media and the fashion community. There was a saying that went,
“Armani dresses the wife, and Versace dresses the mistress”. But he ignored
these criticisms. He knew what his customers wanted- and that was to show
off their curves and be proud of their bodies, rather than hiding them away.
Eventually, the company became so successful that Gianni began opening new store locations.
Instead of focusing only on the western world, Gianni wanted to take Versace global. In 1979,
he opened his first store in China. At the time, other fashion houses were ignoring
much of the Asian market. But bringing Versace to China so early would pay off
in a very big way. He was way ahead of the competition, and Versace became one
of the top brands. Throughout the 1980’s, he began opening stores across the United
States, and in the 90’s launched multiple new fashion lines which were a huge success.
Besides being a brilliant fashion designer, Gianni was great at marketing, and understood the power
of getting celebrities to wear his clothes and be associated with the brand. So he used his
connections to make it happen. He became known for dressing many celebrities like Elton John,
Michael Jackson, Cher, Madonna, and Princess Diana. After his clothes were photographed
and put in gossip magazines, the demand for Versace skyrocketed.
In the 1980’s and 90’s, Gianni Versace began hiring models that he would use again and again
in his runway shows. Big names like Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford all worked for Versace.
In 1992, Versace stepped the controversy up a notch, and launched a collection called
“Miss S&M”. Models were walking down the runway in leather harnesses. That same year,
Donatella wore a bondage dress to the Met Gala, which certainly got a lot of people talking.
However, this was revolutionizing the fashion industry in a big way,
showing that women weren’t afraid to show some skin. Gianni was quoted saying,
“We have to really break barriers everyday. Fashion, to me, is born and dies every day.”
Then, In 1994, an actress named Elizabeth Hurley was a plus-one for Hugh Grant to the
movie premiere of Four Weddings and Funeral. She wore the safety pin Versace dress to the premiere,
and the media went wild. Just by wearing this dress, Elizabeth’s career took off. In fact,
the dress is so famous, it has its own Wikipedia page.
And as time went on, Versace became more of a lifestyle brand. They sold everything from
sheets to plates and pillow cases. Gianni wanted to make products that were affordable to anyone,
not just the rich and famous. Even if someone in the middle class couldn’t afford a Versace gown,
it was still possible to buy perfume or a pair of sunglasses. This would turn out to be a great
move, because it helped spread the popularity of the brand throughout the whole world.
During his massive rise in wealth and fame, Gianni was keeping a secret. He was gay,
and was in love with a man named Antonio D'Amico. However, the family wanted to
keep his sexuality a secret, because they were afraid that it would hurt
the company’s reputation. So for years, he hid who he truly was from the public.
In 1992, Gianni bought a mansion together with Antonio in the South Beach neighborhood
of Miami - and while living in Miami, Gianni would frequent the local gay night clubs. But
he wouldn’t drink or dance with the crowd. He was there to get inspired,
because he wanted to see what people were wearing. Even though he was rich and famous,
he was still very humble, and would regularly chat with the locals.
However, tragedy struck in 1993, when Gianni Versace was diagnosed with cancer in his
inner-ear. Later, it was revealed that he was also HIV positive. Gianni began
writing his last will and testament, in case he passed away from his illnesses.
But he had no idea that he would be murdered long before his illness could take his life.
On July 15, 1997, Gianni was on a morning walk outside of his Miami
home. He got a cup of coffee, and copies of Vogue and The New Yorker.
A 27-year-old man named Andrew Cunanan was waiting for him. He pulled out a gun
and shot Gianni execution style, as he fell onto his front steps. By sheer coincidence,
the bullet went through his body and also shot a nearby dove. When the police arrived,
they saw the dead dove near his body, and assumed it was some sort of message left by the Mafia.
Residents of South Beach were devastated, and they created a memorial on the steps
where he was killed. Over 2,000 people attended Gianni Versace’s
funeral - including dozens of celebrities - and it was televised throughout the world.
His murderer, Andrew Cunanan, was a serial killer wanted in multiple states,
and he was being hunted by the FBI. He was even on an episode of “America’s Most
Wanted”. Just 8 days after killing Gianni Versace, Andrew was found dead in a boat
house. He had decided it was better to commit suicide than going to jail.
In 2018, FX released a TV series called “American Crime Story: The Assasination
of Gianni Versace '', which speculates that Andrew was obsessed with Versace,
and tried to manipulate his way into Gianni’s life before killing him. Reportedly, Andrew was gay,
and worked as an escort for older men. So the show speculates that he may have stalked Gianni,
and tried to proposition him for work before killing him.
However, investigators on the case found no proof that Andrew ever spoke
to Gianni Versace before killing him, and so Andrew’s true motives remain a mystery.
At the time of his death, the Versace brand was worth $807 million dollars. In his will,
Gianni left 20% of the company to his sister Donatella,
who continued to serve as the artistic and creative director after his death.
His brother Santo received 30%, and went on to become the new Chairman.
Surprisingly, the remaining 50% of the company went to Gianni’s niece Allegra Versace Beck.
He loved his niece like a daughter, calling her his “little princess”. She was only 11
years old at the time of his death, so this set her up for life. When Allegra was 18 years old,
she was able to access her inheritance of $800 million and joined Versace’s board. However,
she didn’t exactly want to become the new face of the Versace brand. She hated being in the
spotlight and valued her privacy, so didn’t become too involved in the family business.
After Gianni was shot, several companies approached the family offering them millions
of dollars to take over the Versace brand. They were told things like:
"None of your family will ever have to work again." But they held onto the company, and
wanted to continue Gianni’s legacy on their own. Donatella said, "My brother would not have wanted
me to sell a single office chair. To him the company was family, and you don't sell family."
So the Versace family continued to run the brand on their own,
and defied all of the odds that were against them.
In fact, Versace was actually involved in a very surprising invention. In the year 2000,
Donatella designed a dress that was worn by Jennifer Lopez to the Grammy Awards. It was
a green jungle print dress, and everyone was talking about it. It became so famous,
that it was the number one search term on Google. The only problem was that back in 2000,
google only had text search. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that there was such
a high volume of searches for this jungle print Versace dress, it made the Google team realize the
urgent need for an image search instead of just text. So it was actually Donatella’s
dress design that prompted Google to build an image search function to accommodate
the demand. And fun fact: it was Susan Wojsiki, who’s now the CEO of YouTube,
who was tasked with leading the development of Google Images, all because of this Versace dress.
However, for Donatella, despite the business
success - dealing with the grief of losing Gianni wasn’t easy. She really struggled
after her brother’s death. And later admitted she developed a coke addiction. Throughout
much of her time working at Versace, she was going in and out of a daze.
It didn’t help that the media was saying she was just a figurehead to the brand,
belittling the work she was actually doing as a designer. No one believed in her ability to
run Versace after Gianni’s death. This was destroying her self-confidence even more,
and led her to do more drugs to feel better. It was a vicious cycle.
At Allegra’s 18th birthday party, Donatella had a full-on breakdown. She became incoherent,
and her friends and family were scared for her. Elton John was a family friend,
and he staged an intervention for her, and thankfully, she agreed to go to rehab.
In 2014, the business was not doing as well as it once had, and sales were falling. The
Versace family decided that it was finally time to seek outside help to move the brand
forward. They initially sold 20% of the company to a private equity firm called the Blackstone Group,
and also hired a new CEO, Jonathan Akeroyd. Jonathan helped revitalize Versace’s brand,
and the business made a comeback, becoming more popular with a younger audience once again.
However, as time went on, it became clear that the next generation of the Versace family wasn’t
going to continue running the business. Santo and Donatella wanted to keep their brother’s
brand alive long after they were gone, so they decided it was best to finally sell the company.
In 2018, Capri Holdings bought the Versace brand for $2.12 billion dollars. Donatella
and Santo both got to keep their jobs at the company, where they continue to
work to this day. And part of the deal also included stock in Capri Holdings,
so the Versace family received shares that amounted to $176 million.
What started as a humble family-owned dress shop in Italy became a multi-billion dollar
fashion brand. The name Versace will live on long after the family is gone,
and it continues to be one of the top fashion brands to this day.
And if you enjoy stories about luxury fashion brands involving murder, go check out the
even crazier story of Gucci. Just click the thumbnail here, and I’ll see you there. Cheers.