Two pivotal dresses. Top: Worn by the Princess of Wales in a famous photograph by Patrick Demarchelier in Harper’s Bazaar, this 1991–2 evening dress highlights the Versace style of the early 1990s. Collection Gianni Versace Archives. Above: "That dress": the one with which Elizabeth Hurley stole the attention at the première of Four Weddings and a Funeral, held together by safety pins, 1994. Sadly, the mannequin lacks Ms Hurley's curves. Collection Gianni Versace Archives. Below: Byzantine Icon dress, autumn–winter 1997–8, in leather and glass beads, embroidered. Collection Gianni Versace Archives.

Jack Yan reports from the Gianni Versace exhibition at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa

IANNI VERSACE stands as one of the twentieth century’s great couturiers and a representative of a ‘Loadsamoney’ era. While he did not start the trend, he rode it for what it was worth; he brought his genius of theatrics from earlier design experience in other fields and other houses to an era where there were parodies of earlier times, and excesses that could only be of the 1980s and 1990s.
   Fashion, felt Versace, should be fun. The passion that came from the designer should be felt throughout the collection. It did not stop with the designs. Versace understood that this branding—for want of a better modern term—extended to the way models came down the catwalk. Catwalk shows should be about drama and excitement. Before Versace, few did this.
   Versace, forever young, once misunderstood, the figurehead of an empire and a fitting example of a rags-to-riches story, has claimed our memories of this time, since his 1997 murder in Miami, Fla. and the manhunt that ensued.
   Gianni Versace’s coverage was deserved for the most part; his designs spoke volumes about his genius. And while extravagant, Versace’s work was constructed practically. The house of Versace has not been the same without a man who could read the Zeitgeist effortlessly, who rode the celebrity trend deservedly because he anticipated it, who courted celebrities and royalty without trying because they ventured to seek the only couturier who understood them. He knew the combination of formerly distinct types of celebrity was coming and through him it shouted, ‘I have arrived’ from Hollywood or Royal Albert Hall premières. He successfully courted the media because he gave them genius that was backed with newsworthiness. He had as a high a profile in the arts, ballet and the opera. He fought prejudice as vigorously as cancer of the inner ear, the two great battles of his lifetime. He was instrumental in elevating a profession from being specialist to being loved (and hated) around the world.
   And you will hear seldom otherwise: he was a decent bloke.
   The exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, continues from an earlier showing of Versace’s work at the Met. It has come Down Under, faithfully, with a series of lectures given by New Zealand fashion authorities such as publicist Paula Ryan and Massey University lecturer Sue Thomas. It highlights not only the baroque sensibility with which Versace approached fashion, but that he represents an era that has passed. It serves to remind us poignantly that now is only tomorrow’s history, and that we play a role in it no matter how inconsequential it might seem at this time. Everything affects everything in creation.
   Versace’s work thrust visitors back to a golden era of Thatcherism (and Majorism), Madonna, Diana, the Princess of Wales, and the start of Elizabeth Hurley’s career, a time that we could not help but noticed has passed. The fin de siècle mood that had been present is not with us in the new millennium. Tony Blair is out of favour having failed to live up to promises of Cool Britannia, claims one British title; Liz Hurley is firmly established as an international actress, not a guest star on Inspector Morse or Frederick Forsyth Presents; Madonna is now married and a mother, not in that order. Few could forget that we tragically lost both Diana and Gianni Versace within months of each other, Elton John sitting in the front row of his funeral as he would have been at a catwalk show in earlier times. And the 1980s and 1990s are becoming mere surface representations now, not times with the richness, happiness and heartache that they were when we lived through them. Such is the phenomenon of history, as anyone over 20 begins to realize.
   Opened by Dr Santo Versace, the president of Gianni Versace SpA, with a impeccable English grammar coupled with a strong southern Italian accent, the exhibition is an example of not only the genius of the créateur but the willingness of his family to pay tribute to him. He died with the knowledge that his sister Donatella would take over the creative reins, having long appointed her his successor; this is not a Gucci saga with stories of back-stabbing.
   Beginning April 8 and running till July 15, 2001, ‘Gianni Versace: the Reinvention of Material’ has already attracted higher-than-expected numbers to Te Papa. The museum anticipated 400 per day, but over Easter weekend, 3,500 made their way to view the 150 dresses on display. Admission is NZ$9 for adults, NZ$6·50 concession, 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. daily (to 9 P.M. Thursday).

Related links
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Versace
Lucire: ‘Sugar and Spice’—Milano autumn–winter 2001 report by Corky Davidov (March 2001)
Lucire Book Reviews: Versace (October 1997; N.B.: shown prices correct in 1997 but may not be correct now)

Our report from the Met on its latest gala by Phillip D. Johnson will appear next month in Lucire.

Jack Yan is publisher of Lucire. Acknowledgements to Vicki Connor of Te Papa for her kind assistance in this article.

Copyright ©2001 by JY&A Media, a division of Jack Yan & Associates. All rights reserved.
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