"I like to dress egos, if you haven't got a big ego, you can forget it." Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace was born in Italy in 1946. Versace learned clothing design from his mother, who was a tailor, and his first creations were sold in her shop. He began working as a fashion designer in Milan in 1972.
He designed for several major Italian fashion houses, including Genny, Callaghan, and Complice, before he presented his first collection under his own name in 1978.
Along with designing fashion, Versace designed the costumes for many ballets for la Scala and other European houses.
Versace's clothes are noted for bold and striking colors, materials, and cuts, with clingy silhouettes, and they are glamorous and sexual. Versace was known for incorporating metal into his clothes.
Versace was famous for using celebrities as his models, including Madonna, Halle Berry, Prince, and Tina Turner.
Versace was murdered in 1997, and control of the design house passed to his sister Donatella, who acts as creative director, and his brother Santo.