Versace

Versace was founded in Milan in 1978 by Gianni Versace, who launched his namesake label after years designing for Genny and Callaghan. From the start, the house pushed against the restrained Milanese tailoring tradition, favoring bright prints, Greco-Roman motifs, and overt sensuality.

Critics often described the early collections as Hollywood-inflected, and the brand became shorthand for a particular kind of Italian glamour, one that embraced celebrity, nightlife, and the body rather than hiding it.

Menswear has always been central to Versace, not a secondary line. Gianni cut suits with wider shoulders and sharper lapels than his Milanese peers, used silk shirting in baroque prints, and pioneered Oroton, a fine metal mesh fabric, in both men’s and women’s pieces.

Where Armani offered softness and neutral palettes during the same period, Versace went the opposite direction, dressing rock stars, footballers, and the Miami set in leather, printed silk, and Medusa-stamped hardware. The 1993 CFDA International Award recognized Gianni’s influence on the decade’s fashion vocabulary, and his menswear shows in Milan became a fixture of the calendar alongside Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Prada.

After Gianni’s murder in 1997, his sister Donatella Versace took over creative direction and his brother Santo ran the business, with Donatella’s daughter Allegra inheriting a majority stake. Blackstone acquired a minority position in 2014, and in 2018 Capri Holdings bought the company outright.

In April 2025, Prada Group announced its acquisition of Versace from Capri for around 1.25 billion euros, with Dario Vitale stepping in as creative director, before the appointment of Pieter Mulier.

Today Versace dresses a clientele drawn to print-driven tailoring, evening shirting, and accessories marked with the Medusa or Greca, sitting in the Italian designer tier alongside Dolce & Gabbana and Gucci.