Saturday, April 10, 2010

versace

I recently checked out House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival from the library and am really enjoying it. Since I've never been a Versace devotee, I didn't know much about the brand's appeal and why it was so successful in the 80s and 90s. But reading about the label's rise and (sort of) fall made me want to check out the older, glory-day designs, and I found some old ads that made me quite nostalgic for the 90s. Check it out:


In the book, the author, Deborah Ball, often parallels Gianni Versace's career to that of his rival at the time, Giorgio Armani. Armani rose to fame first, with his power suits that couldn't have been more appropriate for the affluent times. Then Versace showed up, the complete opposite of Armani, with his over-the-top ads and celebrity clients. One person Ball interviewed for the book noted that Versace's clothes weren't intellectual at all, and were more like candy. The last advertisement above really drives that point home. The models in it look like cotton candy or sweet tarts. 
If you have any interest in fashion whatsoever, I highly recommend picking up the book!