CASE STUDY: THE INFLUENCE OF VERSACE ON FASHION

Versace is one of the biggest fashion names and an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. Versace not only produces clothes but also produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, jewelry, and home furnishings. Versace is one of those few brands which influenced fashion through generations. Gianni Versace was strongly influenced by ancient Greek history, which dominates the historical landscape of his birthplace, Reggio Calabria. Gianni Versace’s designs were inspired by many factors:

  1. His southern Italian Heritage, Historical fashion and art movements, especially Graeco-Roman art
  2. His love for contemporary art, he was most influenced by the art of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol

These factors also influenced the logo of Versace Fashion house, which is the Medusa Head, a Greek mythological figure. Thus, his designs employed vivid & bright colors, bold prints, graphic prints and sexy cuts.

Versace designed for many celebrities like Elton John, Michael Jackson, Diana- Princess of Wales, Princess Caroline of Monaco. Many celebrities like Liz Hurley, Catherine Zeta Jones, Jennifer Lopez, Cindy Crawford, Penelope Cruz have worn Versace through different years and made those particular dresses famous. Celebrities have also played a huge and important role in elevating the status of Versace at an international level and in turn influencing fashion over the years. Below are a few dresses by Versace which became famous and a few among the iconic dresses of those times. The below dresses have been so iconic that many different celebrities have eventually opted to wear those dresses again over the years: 

1.Elizabeth Hurley – Versace ‘safety pin’ Dress: Four Weddings and a Funeral Premiere (1994)

Photo Copyrights: The Telegraph

 

 

2. Catherine Zeta Jones – red Versace dress: Oscars (1999)

Photo Copyrights: Pinterest, nytimes.com

 

3.Jennifer Lopez – plunging sheer green Versace dress: Grammy’s (2000)

Photo Copyrights: https://www.clbxg.com

 

 

4. Cindy Crawford – Versace red plunge dress: Oscars (1991)

Photo Copyrights: Wikipedia

 

 

 

5. Penelope Cruz – pink strapless feathered Versace dress: Academy Awards (2007)

Photo Copyrights: Historical post

 

Gianni Versace & Versace brand designs are fierce and they take a risk experimenting with different prints, styles and thus they are a huge hit in the youngsters at an international level. Versace over the years has developed its brand as a classy brand and always kept celebrities in the front lines of their campaigns. Versace has its continuos presence at the Oscars, Grammy, and Met Gala. Celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner had opted for Versace in the recent Met Gala. Also, one of the celebrities who have the longest associations with Versace is celebrity singer Jennifer Lopez and also a close friend of artistic director of Versace Brand, Donatella Versace. Versace had recently designed the dresses for Jennifer Lopez for her performance at the Super Bowl as well.

 

 

Photo Copyrights: Versace Website

Versace Brand’s creativity, good use of available resources, Apt marketing techniques and calculated risk-taking has helped Versace become a pioneer in the fashion industry and thus their fashion designing has influenced many over the years, not just celebrities, but also fashion designers, creators, visual artists, graphic designers, etc. Versace designs have been featured at the Victoria & Albert Museum – London 1985, New York Museum, Museo del Traje, Madrid, and many more such places. 

Our Expert Fashion Designing faculty Ms. Poonam tells us, “Fashion is designed with an intention. No art form is complete without a core understanding of basic design principles. The reason Versace’s design is still being closely connected is the spirit of innovation and luxury. He was described as a Rock n Roll Designer. Versace focused on elegant tailoring and bais cut. His signature style was bold. There were abundant prints, glitz, bare skin, raw sexuality in his design. It is still easy to find some elements which are very similar to Versace style in recent years collection such as animal prints, sexy cuts, and metal mesh.”

She further adds, “Animal prints have always gathered attention and has been in fashion. It displays sophistication style and versatility. This evergreen trend is loved by all and the apparel market is flooded with animal prints. Sexy cuts in Versace’s designs style shows minimalism in the main stream of the fashion industry.”

It would not be wrong to say that Gianni Versace with his creativity, vision, and hard work has shaped the path of international fashion. Versace was a designer who broke rules and barriers to create something wonderfully beautiful. Milan or Italy as a whole is not only famous for its’ history but also the Versace. So big is the influence Versace has. Versace could become so successful only and only because of the curiosity and passion he had to learn something new and implement it in his designs. Versace defined history and wonderfully impacted the future. They suffered a lot of bumps on their way but they survived those tactfully. They created a legacy that will be remembered for many more years to come.

To sum this up, I would like to quote Mr. Gianni Versace here,

I try to contrast; life today is full of contrast… We have to change.

I want always to be positive.I like the body. 

I like to design everything to do with the body.

I have a fantastic relationship with money. I use it to buy my freedom.

I am not interested in the past, except as the road to the future.”

 

Nilambari Chandwadkar

PRO, DIDT Campus

3 thoughts on “CASE STUDY: THE INFLUENCE OF VERSACE ON FASHION”

  1. Good observation and nicely penned down. I am students can have a ready reference of this and come with other points too. thank you ma’am to have shared this nice piece of info.

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