5 Books About Versace
Book Roundup - 5 Books About Versace
Gianni Versace has a tragic and fascinating story which was brought to life in the FX Original Series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, starring Édgar Ramírez, Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, and Penélope Cruz. I’d heard about his story in school (I majored in Fashion Marketing and Management) but nothing prepared me for the wild ride I saw in that series based on Maureen Orth’s VULGAR FAVORS. Below are five books about Gianni Versace, and three that are written or published by him. The final book is a rare printing of an ode to one of his favorite cities.
Looking for more books on fashion designers? Check out these roundups:
Vulgar Favors: The Hunt for Andrew Cunanan, the Man Who Killed Gianni Versace
by Maureen Orth
On July 15, 1997, Gianni Versace was shot and killed on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. But months before Versace’s murder, award-winning journalist Maureen Orth was already investigating a major story on Cunanan for Vanity Fair. Culled from interviews with more than four hundred people and insights gleaned from thousands of pages of police reports, Vulgar Favors tells the complete story of Andrew Cunanan, his unwitting victims, and the moneyed world in which they lived . . . and died.
Orth reveals how Cunanan met Versace, and why police and the FBI repeatedly failed to catch him. Here is a gripping odyssey that races across America—from California’s wealthy gay underworld to modest Midwestern homes of families mourning the loss of their sons to South Beach and its unapologetic decadence. Vulgar Favors is at once a masterwork of investigative journalism and a riveting account of a sociopath, his crimes, and the mysteries he left along the way.
GIANNI VERSACE: A Gianni Versace Biography
by Lotti Davidson
The main man behind the most sensual, coveted and recognizable aspects of today’s fashion industry is Gianni Versace. We have Versace to thank for unrepentant glamour and sexuality, high-octane fashion shows, supermodels, celebrities on the front row, the intersections of high art and shameless commerce and global branding… all these things that makes the fashion world such a heady, intoxicating place.
The Italian designer was one of the most important talents to have ever graced the fashion business. He had a distinct vision, the skills and technique to make it a reality, and the courage and sense of salesmanship needed to succeed. He was a gifted original who founded a bold fashion house in 1978 and changed the way the game was played forever afterwards.
His has become one of the most unforgettable names in the business as well as in popular culture. Beyond a name, Versace was a global brand –an aspirational aesthetic, a lifestyle, a philosophy. This is his story...
Do Not Disturb Hardcover
by Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace's unbridled enthusiasm for the baroque finds new expression in Do Not Disturb, his playful peek behind the closed doors of the Versace homes. Versace's Garden of Eden is found at home - be that a stuccoed Ottocento pavilion fronting the Lago di Como, a sumptuous home office in the center of the fashion capital, or an Art Deco pile in South Beach. Versace's Adam and Eve might well be Sylvester Stallone and Claudia Schiffer, modestly shielding themselves from our view with a Gorgon-headed dinner plate.
His vision is translated through the lens of the world's most accomplished photographers - Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, and Massimo Listri - and illustrated with a cornucopia of drawings and pastels by Karl Lagerfeld and Gladys Perint Palmer. Sir Roy Strong, a former Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, contributes a stunning text to match the visual feast.
The Art of Being You
by Gianni Versace
Presents images from both the late designer's private art collection and fashion photography featuring his designs
South Beach Stories
by Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace
“In 1993, Gianni and his sister Donatella released a photo book documenting their fascination with the city titled South Beach Stories. Naturally, it includes Versace’s favourite models—Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss appear in full poolside glamour, captured by photographer Doug Ordway.”
Read more about this rare book in this Sleek Magazine article: Versace’s 1993 “South Beach Stories” fantasy is still how we dream of Florida
