Vintage Gianni Versace Apricot Lace Runway Gown 1997
View Similar Items
Vintage Gianni Versace Apricot Lace Runway Gown 1997
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: 40 (EU)
- Style:1990s (In the Style Of)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU454583691
Gianni Versace
The signature extravagance of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace — forever aligned with glamour, sex, celebrity and spectacle — can overshadow the Italian couturier’s broad and deep engagement with history and culture. More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration, and his subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos.
“I don’t believe in good taste,” Versace once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life. Today, vintage Gianni Versace clothing, handbags and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant.
Gianni Versace was born in Calabria, Italy. His mother was a successful dressmaker who employed more than 40 seamstresses. As a child, little Gianni marveled at her workshop, which would become a university of sorts, where he learned the exceptional construction techniques that were at the foundation of his creative expression. In 1972, at age 25, he moved to Milan to work in fashion. He launched his first collection — and his label — in 1978, with his older brother Santo managing the business concerns. Soon, sister Donatella, whom Gianni dressed and took to discos when she was still a child, joined the family venture, where she had a creative role and managed enormously popular ready-to-wear lines such as Versus.
Vintage Versace has become catnip for modern fashion enthusiasts who seek out the now-iconic house codes that originated in the designs of the 1980s and 1990s. His glamorous and seductive apparel — the clingy skirts and slender, strappy party dresses, as well as the erotic magazine ads that publicized them — looms large, but Versace’s art and historical influences were also vast.
Versace was an art collector, and he took on commissions to create costumes for theatrical performances during the 1980s and spoke of looking to numerous cultures for inspiration. The New York Times noted in 1997 that the fashion industry “is now driven by contemporary culture because Mr. Versace made it that way.” Insiders consider his 1991/1992 Autumn/Winter runway show — which featured supermodels Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista lip-synching George Michael’s “Freedom” — as the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace's adventurous spirit of design resulted in his creating jewel-toned prints rooted in Grecian motifs, Etruscan symbols, the Italian Baroque and Andy Warholʼs Marilyn Monroe. There were slinky dresses in Oroton, his patented chain-mail textile that draped like satin, and leather bondage ensembles. Sex sold, for both women and men. Wrote the late curator Richard Martin, “[Versace] became the standard-bearer of gay men’s fashion because he eschewed decorum and designed for desire.”
Following Versace’s tragic murder in 1997, Donatella took over the role of artistic director and continued to evolve the house codes with a twist of her feminine and feminist perspective. Today, Santo Versace is chief executive officer of Versace and Donatella is its chief creative officer.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Gianni Versace evening dresses, handbags, day dresses and more on 1stDibs.
- Moschino Couture Orange Moire Silk & Black Lace Trim DressBy Moschino CoutureLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage orange Moschino Couture by Franco Moschino cotton rayon blend mini dress: featuring moire faille fabric, black lace trim, and cente...Category
1990s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Vintage Gucci by Tom Ford Orange Silk Cocktail Dress Runway 2004By GucciLocated in Los Angeles, CAWe are pleased to offer a vintage Tom Ford for Gucci orange silk spandex cocktail dress featuring cap sleeves and open back and embellished with raw edge pleated silk and fringe at h...Category
Early 2000s Italian Cocktail Dresses
- Rare Azzedine Alaia Coral Halter Bondage Dress With Leather Straps 1991By Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Azzedine Alaia coral halter dress featuring a deep v, adjustable leather straps with buckles on the neck and back, pleated panels w...Category
1990s French Day Dresses
- Byblos Orange Silk Ruffle Dress 1992By ByblosLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Byblos bright orange silk dress with flat front, criss-cross straps and skirt with ruffles at back and sides. Circa, 1992. Byblos Designed by Alan Cleaver and Keith Varty Size 42 Silk 1992 Collection Excellent Vintage Condition Authenticity Guaranteed Byblos takes its name from a hotel in St. Tropez, France. Since its inception in 1973, starting with a group of stylists, then engaging the Milanese Gianni Versace as a designer from 1975 to 1976, then Frenchman Guy Paulin, and finally Keith Varty from the Royal College of Art in London via a period in Paris at Dorothée Bis with Alan Cleaver. Varty and Cleaver became the personification of Byblos' objectives: a young line, international, with panache, and carefree, optimistic nonchalance. In the 1980s, the color palettes and relaxed resort-influenced informality of Cleaver and Varty for Byblos became a young lingua franca...Category
1990s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vintage Moschino Italian Flag "Fake" Glass Bead DressBy MoschinoLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Moschino by Franco Moschino black and white "Fake" text mini dress with a white graphic arrow and glass necklace collar. The decorative necklace features the colors of the Italian flag...Category
1980s Italian Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vintage Moschino Black Leather Skirt Suit with Gold Chain Tassels 1989By MoschinoLocated in Los Angeles, CAResurrection Vintage is excited to offer a vintage Moschino by Franco Moschino black leather motorcycle jacket and skirt. Both pieces feature gold thimbles with gold chains. Like new...Category
1980s Italian Skirt Suits
- NEW VERSACE BODYCON STRETCH KNIT DRESS in ORANGE with CUT-OUT SHOULDERS 42 - 6By VersaceLocated in Montgomery, TXVERSACE This stretch tight fitting knit dress is both versatile and stylish. Color: Orange Round neck Cut-out shoulders Content: 90% viscose, 10% elastane IT Size 42 - US 6 ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Cocktail Dresses
$1,017 Sale Price40% Off - Vintage 1958 Jean Desses Haute-Couture Metallic Lame Abstract Print Dress & CoatBy Jean DessèsLocated in Beverly Hills, CAJean Desses couture garments are rare, unique and highly collectible. This exquisite ensemble dates back to when Jean Desses closed his couture house at 17, Avenue Matignon and conti...Category
20th Century French Dress and Coat Ensembles
- Adele Simpson 1980s Size 4 Yellow White Silk Chiffon Polka Dot Vintage 80s DressBy Adele SimpsonLocated in San Diego, CAFlirty 1980s ADELE SIMPSON yellow and white silk chiffon polka dot dress ! Features a boned ruched bodice, with a slightly dropped waist. Multiple layers of chiffon on the skirt. Ful...Category
1980s Hong Kong Cocktail Dresses
- 1940s Marge Riley Hand Embroidered Western SuitLocated in New York, NY1940s Marge Riley Hand Embroidered Western SuitCategory
1940s American Day Dresses
- Vintage Print Frilled Gown by Binnie LondonLocated in London, GBA great vintage gown for Summer , by Binnie London. In a wonderful summer print, in orange, black and gold. The dress has ruffles around the neck and 2 rows on the hem. It is full...Category
1960s British Evening Dresses and Gowns
- Vintage Stephen Burrows Orange Matte Silk Jersey Chiffon Abstract Print DressBy Stephen BurrowsLocated in San Diego, CABeautiful and rare vintage STEPHEN BURROWS matte silk jersey and chiffon orange / marigold maxi dress ! Features a jersey bodice with a tiered ...Category
Late 20th Century American Evening Gowns