Years of designing for the theater earned him a respectable reputation in the fashion industry, but his collaborations with American photographer Richard Avedon helped Versace become one of the world's elite designers. His 1982 collection introduced metallic garments that would become his trademark and his elaborate stage costumes for Hollywood's finest. Versace had an extensive empire that included boutiques, fragrances and household products. Versace became one of the world's most prestigious fashion designers of all times. His impeccable taste and attention to detail made him superior to all other designers. .
Gianni Versace was born on December 2, 1946 in Reggio Calabria, Italy. In the earlier days, his mother supported the family with her small tailor-shop. There, an eighteen-year-old Gianni learned everything about making clothes and soon he designed apparel himself, which he sold at his mother's shop. .
In 1972, at the age of twenty-five, Versace decided to move to Milan and where he worked as a fashion designer. There he acquired additional skills working in fabric procurement positions. He got his first chance to show his skills when designing a collection for Fiori Fiorentini, a Lucca, Italy-based company. In the following years, Versace kept designing for labels such as De Parsi, Genny, Callaghan, Alma, and presented hi first leather collection for Complice. On March 28th, 1978 marked the first collection for women signed with his own name in a fashion show at the Palazzo dellaPermente, in Milan.
In the same year, he opened his initial boutique in Milan's Via della Spiga. Versace, who always paid great attention to his image, started collaboration with an American photographer named Richard Avedon. Soon, with the growing popularity of the style, boutiques started to spread across the country.
Versace wins the first of a series of awards that would crown his career: "LÌOcchio dÌOro- for the best fashion designer of the 1982/83 Fall/Winter collection for women.