Gianni Versace S.p.A. (pronounced ) is an Italian fashion clothing business founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 and currently headed by Donatella Versace as creative director and Santo Versace as CEO.

Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. Versace designs, markets and distributes luxury clothing, accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings under the various brands of the Versace Group.

Versace's Style Department employs a group of designers and stylists who work in teams specifically dedicated to each individual line. These teams operate under the close supervision and guidance of Creative Director, Donatella Versace.

Versace lines

There are several lines which make up Versace Group. They are: Gianni Versace, Versus, Versace Jeans Couture, Versace Ceramic Designs, Versace Collection (which replaced Versace Classic in 2005), Versace Sport. It also operates a hotel, the Palazzo Versace.

Gianni Versace is the mainline, which contains the high end apparel, jewellery, watches, fragrances, cosmetics and home furnishings. This is the only line which is presented on the runway which is shown during Milan fashion week for both men and women. As its a mainline a dress might cost about $10,000 and a suit $5,000. Donatella Versace directly heads this line and designs a vast amount of the very high end items in the line. Home furnishings are licenced through Rosenthal for ceramics and through other companies for home fittings such as sofas and beds. Most have the unique Versace Greek print of Medusa or similar Greek emblems.

Atelier Versace was Versace's haute couture line, it was last seen for Fall/Winter 2003 and was discontinued due to the increasing lack of profitability in the couture market, worsened by the lack of profitability of the Versace Group at the time.

Versace Collection, Versace Jeans Couture and Versus are all licenced diffusion lines. This means clothing lines which take elements of the main Gianni Versace mainline and build on the current seasonal trends, they are made by another company for Versace Group and in some cases may be designed by such companies. Versace Collection is aimed at a vastly younger audience than the mainline and is also much cheaper. A dress might be $1,000 and a suit about the same. It replaced Versace Classic for Spring/Summer 2005 in a drive to eradicate the lost image of Versace due to a large amount of diffusion lines in an attempt to return Versace Group to profitablity. Versace also discontinued Versace Intensive, Versace Young in 2005 for the same reasons.

Versace Jeans Couture, is the main casual clothing line, it has no formal wear and contains high end denim and classic Gianni Versace print shirts. Denim costs around $300 and shirts $250 It is the most available of all lines and is distributed through 56 free standing stores and 1800 multi-brand points of sale including Internet based shops. Versace Sport has a more activewear trend and the name is often printed on t-shirts which may be sold for about $100.

Versace Precious Items is a timepiece, jewellery and writing instrument sub-brand of Gianni Versace. Timepieces and jewellery are made in Switzerland, and writing instruments are made in France.

Versace going public

In May 2006, it was reported in WWD that Versace chief executive Giancarlo Di Risio said Versace Group would consider an IPO (initial public offering) on the stock market by next year, ahead of schedule. This was due to a drop of operating losses of £62m to £4m for 2005, based on sales for the house during the 12 months ending December 31 dropping 4.4 per cent to £209 million, which was slightly higher than a forecast of £204 million.

Faces of Versace & celebrity culture

Versace is favoured by many of the world's most famous. Elton John has long been a wearer of Versace often favouring specially made items covered in diamantes or Swarovski crystals. Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Hurley who wears it almost exclusively to events favour the brand.

Versace is unique among Italian houses to use a "face" for the house. That is, a famous person paid to feature in the vast majority of advertisements. Other houses rely on the press attention given to who is wearing their apparel at events and who designs it along with usual campaings done by models. As part of a such a deal with a celebrity they will be paid and given the right to have free Versace for a period of time. Madonna, for example was paid $10.5m and given free Versace clothes for 2 years.

Some of the celebrities that have been the face "for Versace" are Madonna (1995 and 2005), Demi Moore, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Halle Berry is the face of Versace for Spring/Summer 2006.

Versace are reported to start using models to front campaigns instead of celebrities, such as Carolyn Murphy, Christy Turlington and Kate Moss

External links

• Versace company Web site
• Palazzo Versace Gold Coast Australia- Versace Hotel
• Versace's profile in the FMD-database
• At Home with Versace Profile
• Source for Madonna for Versace
• Source for New faces of Versace

Italian fashion designers | Clothing brands

Versace | Versace