S/S1997 GianniVersaceFinalYear CoutureRunwayMilan RenaissanceStyle Silk Corset
About the Item
- Designer:
- Brand:
- Dimensions:Marked Size: FR42 (EU)Bust: 34 in (86.36 cm)Waist: 29 in (73.66 cm)
- Style:Renaissance corset, sleeping beauty (In the Style Of)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3244221970002
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. Today, his vintage dresses and gowns, handbags, sunglasses and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant.
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,” he once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
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 — and Gianni Versace Couture, which debuted in 1989 — 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.
Gianni Versace Couture
Subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive, Gianni Versace’s (1946–97) designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos. “I don’t believe in good taste,” the legendary Italian couturier once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
Today, vintage Versace clothing, handbags and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant. The designer debuted his Atelier Versace line — which was part of the first Versace haute couture collection — in 1989.
More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration. In fact, 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! '90” — the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace was born in Reggio di 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, Versace 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 — and 1989's Gianni Versace Couture — 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. This 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 Couture bags, dresses and more on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: North Adams, MA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Couture 1960s PacoRabanneParis HandPainted MadeInFrance SilkChiffon Pareo DressBy Paco RabanneLocated in Chicago, ILIn the 1960s the futurist Paris-based revolutionary haute-couture designers included Andre Courreges, Pierre Cardin and Paco Rabanne, who was the last to died in the 21st Century in ...Category
1960s French Delphos Gowns
- Balenciaga NicolasGhesquiere SilkFlowerPrint StructuredShortSleeve BiasCutDressBy Nicolas Ghesquière, BalenciagaLocated in Chicago, ILWhile at Balenciaga in late 2007, Nicolas Ghesquiere designed this 100%-silk bias-cut paneled dress that explodes with a grey and pale-yellow flower print and features unique technic...Category
Early 2000s French Aesthetic Evening Dresses
- Prada 2000 RunwayLook1 FoxFurSilkCollar BlackCheckedWoolSkirtSuit 3PieceEnsembleBy Prada, Miuccia PradaLocated in Chicago, ILItalian Miuccia Prada debuted this Vogue-photographed 1940s-inspired runway "Look 1" ensemble, which includes this thick check-texture wool skirt suit designed in 1999 with defined hour-glass waist, sharp shoulders and fur accessory, at her Autumn/Winter 2000 ready-to-wear fashion show. Known for some of the best accessories since the 1990s, the Prada detachable multi-color red-fox collar with thin beige grosgrain ties and silk-lined reverse, which was selected for its ad-campaigns and magazine features, became the versatile must-have of the season at the turn of the century. With 100% virgin wool, padded shoulders, flap pockets, and full lining, the warm jacket...Category
1990s Italian Dress and Coat Ensembles
- 1980s VictorCosta GatheredRuched RedSatin BlackVelvet LongSlit Formal Maxi GownBy Victor CostaLocated in Chicago, ILFor a formal special event, this 1980s maxi dress sleeveless gown by American designer Victor Costa features glamorous glossy red satin that is gathered, ruched and topstitched in bo...Category
1980s American Maxi Dress
- 1990 Azzedine Alaia Bodycon Set Leather Curvy Skirt & LogoPointelle TshirtBy Azzedine AlaïaLocated in Chicago, ILThis Alaia Paris black set of a very soft 100% leather high-waisted derriere-enhancing pencil mini skirt and rare logo scoop-neck T-shirt were made around the early 1990s. The stretc...Category
1990s French Suits, Outfits and Ensembles
- Couture 1980s Castelbajac TuxedoSequin BiasCut Cashmere AsymmetricOversized KnitBy Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, CastelbajacLocated in Chicago, ILUniquely designed as couture by French Jean Charles de Castelbajac in the 1980s, this oversized soft cashmere-viscose-wool bias-cut Italian-knit black sweater with made-in-France tux...Category
1980s French Pullovers
- Vintage 1990’s Junior Gaultier iconic multicoloured graphic logo tee shirtBy Junior GaultierLocated in COLLINGWOOD, AUJunior Gaultier by JEAN PAUL GAULTIER vintage iconic multicoloured tee-shirt. This tee shirt features multicolored graphic blocks with iconic JUNIOR GAULTIER/JPG print. Ribbed textured round neck, short sleeves, stretch shiny jersey. This highly collectible piece is from a very brief era from the JPG house and is becoming a must have for the discerning collector of vintage clothing...Category
1990s Italian T-Shirts
- Romeo Gigli Top With Rose - 00sBy Romeo GigliLocated in Milano, ITRomeo Gigli Top With Rose is a taffeta garment from the winter 2000 collection featuring a sweetheart neckline laced at the collar and closed at the front with a single button and de...Category
Early 2000s Italian Halter Tops
- Issey Miyake Organza Blouse - 00sBy Issey MiyakeLocated in Milano, ITIssey Miyake Organza Blouse is a rare over-fit Miyake garment composed of an overlay of two organza garments: one gold and the upper one black with gold inserts and featuring a high ...Category
Early 2000s Japanese Slash Sleeve Shirts
- Gianfranco Ferré Cut-out Shirt - 80sBy Gianfranco FerréLocated in Milano, ITGianfranco Ferré Cut-out Shirt is a rare garment from ferrè featuring padded shoulder pads and a slouchy cut. the sleeves have adjustable button cuffs and the closure is a single but...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Slash Sleeve Shirts
- Gucci Yellow Monogram Satin Crop TopBy GucciLocated in Scottsdale, AZIntroducing the Gucci Yellow Monogram Satin Crop Top, a bold and vibrant piece that exudes luxury and unmistakable style. This cropped short sleeve crewneck shirt features a luxuriou...Category
2010s Italian Crop Tops
- Dolce & Gabbana Kim White Cropped T-ShirtBy Dolce & GabbanaLocated in Scottsdale, AZIntroducing the Dolce & Gabbana Kim White Cropped T-Shirt, a super fun and statement-making piece that exudes style and personality. Crafted from crisp white cotton, this cropped t-s...Category
2010s Italian T-Shirts