Gianni Versace Retrospective brings together nearly 450 exceptional pieces : original creations and silhouettes, accessories, sketches, decorative objects, photographs, videos, and rare interviews that offer a comprehensive overview of Gianni Versace’s work.

In a boldly pop scenography designed by Nathalie Crinière, the exhibition traces a career devoted entirely to creation and reveals the many sources of inspiration that shaped Versace’s universe: his beginnings in the family atelier in Calabria, the iconography of the Catholic religion, the influence of Greek sculpture and Italian opera, as well as his fascination with the Baroque and its opulent prints.

Already acclaimed in London, Berlin, and Málaga, as well as in several European cities, the exhibition now naturally finds its place in Paris, where fashion asserts itself as an artistic and cultural language in its own right. Its Paris presentation comes at a particularly symbolic moment, on the eve of the 30^th anniversary of the designer’s death and what would have been his 80^th birthday.

GIANNI AND PARIS

For the designer born in Calabria in 1946, Paris was the runway of the world : the essential place where one had to be seen. What better symbol than the catwalk, then, to tell his story in Paris? It was here, on the runways, that he made history as an Italian, and it was on this stage that he took his final bow. The scenography of the exhibition at the Musée Maillol is based on this concept of the runway, which will extend through almost all the exhibition spaces.

FASHION, ART AND POPULAR CULTURE

« You’ll find me in my work. » Placed under the sign of this quotation from Versace, the exhibition explores the many inspirations that shaped the designer’s universe through the presentation of more than 120 silhouettes and mannequins.

The exhibition also highlights the close links between Versace and major figures of popular culture. From music icons such as Madonna, Elton John, George Michael, Grace Jones and Prince, to personalities from cinema and the international stage such as Princess Diana and Elizabeth Hurley, many contributed to spreading his flamboyant style.

It also recalls the decisive role of supermodels such as Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Karen Mulder, and Linda Evangelista in the emergence of a new era of fashion. Videos of fashion shows, photographs from shoots, and magazine archives revive the energy of this period.