1990s Gianni Versace Black Leather Handbag
About the Item
- Designer:
- Dimensions:Height: 10 in (25.4 cm)Depth: 3 in (7.62 cm)Length: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)
- Period:
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Small scuff marks on handles but are hard to notice making this piece very wearable. Leather and interior is clean and show little to no flaws.
- Seller Location:San Francisco, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU39428132042
Gianni Versace
The signature extravagance of legendary fashion designer Gianni Versace — forever aligned with glamour, sex, celebrity and spectacle — can overshadow the Italian couturier’s broad and deep engagement with history and culture. Today, his vintage dresses and gowns, handbags, sunglasses and other accessories look astonishingly fresh and freshly relevant.
More than any designer before him, Versace mined celebrity, music and Pop art for inspiration, and his subversive, maximalist and unabashedly seductive designs infused high fashion with an entirely new ethos. “I don’t believe in good taste,” he once explained. Instead, he had a sexy good time with fashion — as he did with life.
Gianni Versace was born in Calabria, Italy. His mother was a successful dressmaker who employed more than 40 seamstresses. As a child, little Gianni marveled at her workshop, which would become a university of sorts, where he learned the exceptional construction techniques that were at the foundation of his creative expression.
In 1972, at age 25, he moved to Milan to work in fashion. He launched his first collection — and his label — in 1978, with his older brother Santo managing the business concerns. Soon, sister Donatella, whom Gianni dressed and took to discos when she was still a child, joined the family venture, where she had a creative role and managed enormously popular ready-to-wear lines such as Versus.
Vintage Versace — and Gianni Versace Couture, which debuted in 1989 — has become catnip for modern fashion enthusiasts who seek out the now-iconic house codes that originated in the designs of the 1980s and 1990s. His glamorous and seductive apparel — the clingy skirts and slender, strappy party dresses, as well as the erotic magazine ads that publicized them — looms large, but Versace’s art and historical influences were also vast.
Versace was an art collector, and he took on commissions to create costumes for theatrical performances during the 1980s and spoke of looking to numerous cultures for inspiration. The New York Times noted in 1997 that the fashion industry “is now driven by contemporary culture because Mr. Versace made it that way.”
Insiders consider his 1991/1992 Autumn/Winter runway show — which featured supermodels Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista lip-synching George Michael’s “Freedom” — as the moment when the two worlds of fashion and pop culture became one, changing both forever.
Versace's adventurous spirit of design resulted in his creating jewel-toned prints rooted in Grecian motifs, Etruscan symbols, the Italian Baroque and Andy Warholʼs Marilyn Monroe. There were slinky dresses in Oroton, his patented chain-mail textile that draped like satin, and leather bondage ensembles. Sex sold, for both women and men. Wrote the late curator Richard Martin, “[Versace] became the standard-bearer of gay men’s fashion because he eschewed decorum and designed for desire.”
Following Versace’s tragic murder in 1997, Donatella took over the role of artistic director and continued to evolve the house codes with a twist of her feminine and feminist perspective. Today, Santo Versace is chief executive officer of Versace and Donatella is its chief creative officer.
Browse an extraordinary collection of vintage Gianni Versace evening dresses, handbags, day dresses and more on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: San Francisco, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 1940s Black Alligator HandbagLocated in San Francisco, CA1940s Black Alligator Handbag Slight tarnish on the metal work. L 12 H 9 D 4.5Category
1940s Unknown Top Handle Bags
- 1950s Black and White Polka Dots Leatherette Purse with Matching BeltLocated in San Francisco, CA1950s Black and white polka dot leatherette purse with brass hardware and black lining with two interior pockets. The belt is original however is in useable shape but the interior is...Category
1950s Top Handle Bags
- 1930s Black Art Deco Twill Evening Handbag with Lucite ClosuresLocated in San Francisco, CA1930s black twill evening hand bag with Art Deco carved lucite closure and pull tab. The body of the purse is lined in black twill and has a built-in coin purse. The entire bag is fi...Category
1930s Top Handle Bags
- 1930s/1940s Brown Cordé Purse with Brass HardwareLocated in San Francisco, CALate 1930s to early 1940s brown Art Deco cordé purse with brass hardware frame and extra-wide arm handle. The bag is lined with brown twill and and has two pockets.Category
1930s Top Handle Bags
- 1940s Black Twill Purse with Decorative Brass HardwareBy Morris MoskowitzLocated in San Francisco, CA1940s Black twill purse with a decorative brass closure, gathered body toped with decorative frame. The interior of the purse is made of a black lining with several pocket and one of...Category
1940s Top Handle Bags
- 1930s Black Twill Quilted Trapunto Handbag with Lucite ClosureLocated in San Francisco, CA1930s Quilted trapunto hand bag made of a black twill frame made of a brass. The top of the frame is finished with a clear Art Deco closure and extra wide handles. The interior is li...Category
1930s Top Handle Bags
- Chanel 1992 Vintage Black Diamond Quilted Work Laptop Briefcase BagBy ChanelLocated in Miami, FLChanel Vintage Black Diamond Quilted Work Laptop Briefcase Bag circa 1992 black lambskin diamond quilting single flat top handle front flap closure push-lock fastening main compart...Category
1990s Italian Briefcases and Attachés
- HERMÈS Prunoir Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Leather Kelly 25cm RetourneBy HermèsLocated in Bishop's Stortford, HertfordshireHERMÈS Prunoir Matte Mississippiensis Alligator Leather Kelly 25cm Retourne Serial Number: D Age (Circa): 2019 Accompanied By: Hermès Dust Bag, Box, Lock, Keys, Clochette, Shoulder ...Category
2010s French Structured Shoulder Bags
- Louis Vuitton Brown Monogram Coated Canvas & Vachetta Leather Mini NoeBy Louis VuittonLocated in Bishop's Stortford, HertfordshireLouis Vuitton Brown Monogram Coated Canvas & Vachetta Leather Mini Noe Brand- Louis Vuitton Model- Mini Noe Product Type- Top Handle Serial Number- AR**** Age- Circa 2004 Colour- Br...Category
Early 2000s French Top Handle Bags
- CHANEL Black Lambskin Quilted Leather Gold Top Handle Evening Kelly Flap BagsBy ChanelLocated in Chicago, ILPre-Owned Vintage Condition From 1996 Collection Lambskin Leather Gold Tone Hardware Leather Lining Mini Bag Measures 5.5" W x 4.25" H x 2.5" D Mini Bag Handle Drop 2.75" Medium Ba...Category
Late 20th Century Top Handle Bags
- CHANEL Black Yellow Stitch Lambskin Gold Evening Kelly Top Handle Flap BagBy ChanelLocated in Chicago, ILPre-Owned Vintage Condition From 2005 Collection Lambskin Leather Cross Stitching Leather Lining Measures 9.75" W x 7.5" H x 3.5" D Handle Drop 2.75" Includes Authenticity Card 100% ...Category
Late 20th Century Top Handle Bags
- Chanel Large Black Caviar City BagBy ChanelLocated in West Hollywood, CAThis Chanel City bag is an absolute classic. The handles have a drop of 6 inches so you can also easily wear it over the shoulder. The original hologra...Category
Early 2000s Italian Shoulder Bags