The genius of Gianni Versace

This is one television series I have been waiting for - The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - and it's finally on air in Dubai. To my generation, it was Gianni Versace who defined fashion, and his untimely death was more than shocking. This mini-series gives you an inside view on the serial killer who shot down the fashion legend, Andrew Cunanan. He had committed four other murders in the two months prior to killing Gianni at his Miami mansion on July 15, 1997. This incident made him a globally known criminal in the late 1990s. Andrew was never brought to trial as he killed himself a few days after assassinating Gianni. The Versace family has been very vocal about their displeasure with this television show, and feel its narrative is based on misinformation. The fact is, over 20 years later, it is a story that is still relevant. And that is also a testament to Gianni Versace's legacy.
There is no question that Gianni Versace was a game changer, a true legend whose impact on the fashion industry can only be compared to that of Coco Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent and Cristóbal Balenciaga. Symbolic of all that the '90s stood for- flamboyance, decadence and flash - his heady combination of bold colours and signature prints made him stand out. He combined Italian baroque with Greek iconography and gave it a feel of pop art. From ashtrays to dresses, anything Gianni put his designs on became the next must-have.
Son of a dressmaker, he was also a master of pattern-making - his metal-moulded dresses hugged a woman's figure in just the right places and continue to remain a much favoured look on the red carpet. Looking back, there is an element of excess in his work, but in many ways, that is what the '90s were about, and Gianni's designs were a reflection of this.
In an article in The New York Times that was published shortly after the designer's death, Anna Wintour, Vogue's editor-in-chief whose voice is considered to be the last word on fashion, said, "He (Gianni Versace) was the first to realise the value of the celebrity in the front row, and the value of the supermodel, and put fashion on an international media platform." Good fashion designers understand what makes their clients happy. Gianni knew that celebrity was fashion's best ally; he also understood that his clients aspired to have a piece of that world. In many ways, it was Gianni who created the concept of the supermodel, using them in all his shows and promotional campaigns. But there was more to it. Today, if Instagram is a way of connecting with millennials, the way to reaching out to Gen X was pop video. One of the 90s' most memorable moments was to have Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington lip-syncing, "All we have to see, is that I don't belong to you. And you don't belong to me. Freedom. I won't let you down, freedom. I will not give you up, freedom" and reprising the David Fincher-directed video for George Michael for Versace's Fall/Winter 1991 show.
This was what his sister Donatella Versace, who now heads the fashion house, tried to recreate when she had Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, and Helena Christensen close her Spring/Summer 2018 presentation in what else but a Versace gold chain mail long dress with thigh-high slits. The fact that his designs can still be referred to is proof of Gianni's genius. For Fall/Winter 2018, Donatella has referred to his famous black body-con dresses and they look set to make a comeback.
His career may have been short but his impact on fashion is still alive. And that is the true legacy of Gianni Versace.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com