Gianni Versace exhibition, London 2025

[nationalsalt]

I recently attended and was extremely impressed by the Gianni Versace retrospective in London. Honestly, I didn’t know much about the origins of the brand beyond baroque prints and studded leather and was expecting something a bit mediocre, but it was incredibly in-depth / expansive and completely surpassed my expectations - plus it gave me a newfound appreciation for Gianni himself.

My biggest takeaways were;

- The fact that he invented his signature chain mail fabric Oroton in collaboration with Atelier Friedrich Munch

- His early experiments with pleating and tailoring

- His pioneering approach to brand-building and marketing in order to court media attention and expand into new countries (e.g. the supermodels, dressing musicians for tours etc.)

- The dedication to using the best quality silk and multiple screen printing techniques in order to create their signature shirts

- Gianni’s close collaboration with figures like Elton John (who owns one of every silk shirt Gianni ever designed) and Princess Diana, for whom he pared down his extravagant designs and who in turn influenced his later collections

- How beautiful and contemporary the pieces still are – I could imagine many of them being worn today.

Highly recommended exhibition if you’re in London soon!

 

[MModa]

@nationalsalt Spectacular creations by Gianni Versace on display at the museum. Thank you for sharing and the wonderful high-resolution photographs.