Founded in Milan in 1978 by Gianni Versace, one of the Twentieth Century’s most talented designers, Gianni Versace SpA is today a standard bearer of Italian excellence throughout the world.
The company designs, manufactures, distributes and retails luxury products ranging from haute couture of Atelier Versace, to prêt-à-porter collections, from jewellery to perfumes, from home furnishings to porcelain services for the table. In addition to the above, a variety of other projects relating to lifestyle and design also bear the Versace signature: luxury resorts, private jets and helicopters, limited edition supercars.
The Versace Group distributes its products through a retail network of 110 free-standing boutiques located in the world’s major cities and 123 dedicated shop-in-shop spaces located in leading department stores and multibrand outlets.
From the very beginning, the creative universe of Gianni Versace has always encompassed many disciplines, not just fashion, but design in the broadest sense and the essential art of living were transformed by his great passion for all forms the arts: theatre, dance, painting and sculpture.
The Home Collection was therefore a natural extension of this interest, created in 1992 initially as a collection of textiles for the home (sheets, duvets, [pillows and] cushions), and soon followed by the first landmark ranges of porcelain dinner services and sets, the result of the collaboration with Rosenthal: Medusa, Meandre, Marco Polo, Barocco, Roi Soleil, Les Tresors de la Mer, Le Jardin de Versace.
These dinner services with their decorative themes are now accepted as design classics, just like the Vanitas arm chair; inspired by the sensuous design of a neoclassic chair and recognised as an indispensable masterpiece of the Versace Home Collection.
Since 1992 each succeeding collection has introduced new themes, always linked to certain established decorative emblems, such as the Medusa or the neo-classical Greek fret, which has now become the iconic symbol of the maison.
In September 2000, the Versace Group, in partnership with the Sunland Group, launched “Palazzo Versace”, the first resort concept bearing the signature of a luxury brand. The original Palazzo Versace is located on the Australian Gold Coast and this will be followed up in 2009 by a second branded complex under construction in Dubai.
In July 2006, Gianni Versace SpA, in partnership with the TAG Group, announced an agreement to create interiors for private jets. Also in 2006, the Group presented a limited edition of the Versace Lamborghini Murciélago LP 640, with its interior totally conceived and produced by “Versace Design”.
In March 2007 the Versace Group entered into an agreement with Agusta Westland to undertake the planning and creation of exclusive and prestigious interiors for private helicopters.
