Versace: An Italian Design from the Heart of Milan
A look into the iconic Milan based fashion house
By: Kirk Hillson, Skylar Russell, & Victoria Ruggiero
In 1978, Giovanni Versace founded “Gianni Versace Donna” in Milan. Versace gained immense success in womenswear with flashy and sexy designs, made to celebrate the female form and encourage women to embrace who they are. In 1982, Versace expanded to include accessories, jewelry, fragrances, home furnishings, and china. Over the years, Versace has taken on a range of styles throughout their collections. The brands signature looks have combined sexiness and glamour with clashes of “irrelevant references”. Examples of this include rock music and royalty, myth and celebrity stardom, and many more. Versace now includes men’s and children’s ready-to-wear lines as well as shoes, fragrances, and so much more. The brand is currently made up of 230 boutiques and 638 licensed stores across the globe and is creatively run by Donatella Versace. Donatella was originally part of the company through the position of Vice President and frequently collaborated with Gianni in projects. She was known to be the muse of Gianni and was named creative director after Gianni passed in 1997. The name continues to expand its identity as a brand that gives people a sense of power in their choice of unique clothing and accessories to show off who they are.
With over 230 boutiques and 638 licensed stores worldwide, Versace is a luxury brand that is seen globally. Originating from Italy, it only made sense that the brand opened its first store in one of the most iconic fashion capitals of the world. Here in Milan, there are multiple Versace stores. A few of them are located about less than half a mile from each other, totaling a walking time of eight to ten minutes. These stores are in the heart of Milan, near the famous Duomo and Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. There is also a Versace Home Flagship Store, located a few streets over from the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. This store specifically offers the Versace Home collection, while the others contain clothing. The Versace store closest to the Duomo is at Via Santa Radegonda 3 and is open to the public from 10:00 am until 9:00pm. The second store closest to the Duomo is located at Via Monte Napoleone 11 and is open from 10:30am until 7:30pm. This specific store was opened in 1978 by Giovani Versace. It is now Versace’s oldest boutique, located in Milan’s Via Della Spiga. This store at the time was opened under the name of, “Gianni Versace Donna”. With tourism in mind, we have decided to visit the Versace store located at Via Monte Napoleone because we figured it would be less busy and therefore, we will be able to talk to store associates more easily and readily. When we walked into the store, all the sales associates greeted us. There were six working at the time that we were there, and the woman helping us was very welcoming and attentive. Some of the other associates also offered help and guidance as we navigated through the velvet green floors, and walls lined with new and old collections. The brand’s new and most recent collection was pleasantly placed in the front of the store, drawing the shopper’s eyes to its most flashy pieces. On the tables laid various pieces of jewelry and handbags that were new to the collection. All the shoes in the front of the store were the new “ballerina style” heels and flats that Versace just unveiled to the public in their most recent runway show. Throughout the store, there was only one item on the shelves and tables. These solo items were used for “looking purposes”, while there were more quantities of items available in the store for consumers to purchase. The building the stores reside in is five stories tall, each with a different feel to the Versace brand. The purple velvet couches were placed towards the back of the store where customers could sit comfortably. After talking with one of the employees, we learned that Versace is famous for their “golden crest” that is seen on almost every piece that is created. With this in mind, we noticed that the lighting of the shelves that bags and shoes rested on had more of a golden light than a harsh bright one. We also noticed that the detailing of the shelves was gold with intricate patterns much like the crest of Versace. The sales associate explained to us that while “gold” is primarily the metal that Versace used, in their most recent collections, the brand started exploring silver options as well. Both the silver and gold pieces are successfully being purchased in this season’s collection.
There is a third Versace store near Centrale Station and Piazza Gae Aulenti. While being the furthest from the center of Milan, this store is next to the Gianni Versace Head Office at Piazza Luigi Einaudi 8. Its opening hours are from 9:00 am until 7:00pm.
We were lucky enough to speak with a sales associate who agreed to be interviewed. When asked what women’s products are Versace’s best sellers, she responded with “Versace is very focused on ready to wear, that is definitely the highest selling women’s category”. This might come as a surprise to some, personally, we thought of bags when thinking of Versace, so hearing that ready to wear was the most popular women’s category was an interesting fact. Next, we asked about what she thought the most iconic Versace product from any collection was. She said “I really really like the bags, whenever I have the opportunity to buy something, I choose bags”. She then proceeded to tell us about the new Versace collection and how they have chosen to move in a different creative direction than they usually do.
In the midst of award season, Versace has just announced its new face of the Versace Men’s Icons Collection. Cillian Murphy will debut as the “men’s talent” of the Icons collection. It will be released to the public eye on April 3rd, 2024 (Vanity Fair, 2024). Cillian will model and wear “key and timeless pieces” from the Versace Men’s Icons collection. He sported the brand at this season’s Oscars award show dressed in a custom, classic and tailored tuxedo (People Magazine, 2024). The award-winning actor is the first individual to be named for this year’s Versace Men’s Icons Campaign. This is the actor’s first-time campaign with the brand as well. Donatella Versace commented about her excitement bringing Cillian Murphy into the Versace Icons Family. She says in the announcement, “I am thrilled that Cillian is joining the Versace Family… He is magnetic and mesmerizing in front of a camera and I loved seeing him bring Versace to life” (People Magazine, 2024). The Versace Men’s Icons Campaign is a collection of pieces to showcase the timelessness of the Brand’s men’s collections.
