Milan to Mark 10 Year Anniversary of Versace Death

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Parent Category: News and Stories

Posted in: Fashion n Modelling on Monday, 02 July 2007 00:00

Published on Monday, 30 November -0001 00:00

Written by Nitish Kumar

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The city of Milan, with the patronage of the mayor and the world famous La Scala opera house, will stage a series of events in last week of June and July to pay tribute to the Italian designer, Gianni Versace, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of his death, to honour his passionate design work.

The events has been started with the opening of an open-air, citywide exhibition of 64 artistic installations featuring the late designer’s most celebrated theatre designs, mounted on large panels and erected at strategic locations around Milan.

The key event will take place on Sunday, July 15th, at La Scala, where the French choreographer, Maurice Bèjart, will present a new ballet, ‘Grazie Gianni con Amore’ (Thank you Gianni, with love).

The ballet is divided into two acts, the first featuring costumes designed by Donatella Versace and the second being a medley of Bèjart’s most celebrated ballets for which the late designer created costumes, including Dionysos, Souvenir de Leningrad, Chaka Zulu and Pyramid.

On the same day, the City of Milan will honour Gianni Versace’s memory by naming a public area of the city after him.

In addition, the establishment of an annual fashion scholarship in memory of Gianni Versace will be announced at Milan Fashion Week in September.

This will be judged by a jury from the European Institute of Fashion & Textile Design in Milan and given to an aspiring young designer who is determined to succeed in the international world of fashion.

Gianni Versace died at the height of his powers, tragically gunned down on the steps of his Miami mansion on July 15th, just days after he had presented his Versace Atelier collection at the Ritz Hotel during the Paris haute couture season for autumn/winter 1997.
The undisputed ‘king of frock and roll’, Gianni Versace was one of Italian fashion’s most flamboyant and passionate figures.

He invented the cult of the supermodel, turning his ‘girls’ into goddesses who stalked a marble catwalk in clothes which were an exceptional celebration of the female form.
He celebrated luxury and opulence like no designer before or since and he forged a fabulous inheritance of music and fashion, a fusion which is carried on to this day by his sister, Donatella, who is creative director of the family firm.

"Gianni for me was a great brother, a great man and a great artist," Donatella Versace, sitting alongside her brother, Santo, told a news conference. "He was a genius, who deserved all of this."