Designer Versace shot dead in Miami
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from July 1997.
Brought to you by
Witnesses described the shooter as a white man in his mid-20s dressed in a white shirt and gray shorts and having a backpack. Police said he walked away after the shooting. There was no sign of robbery. "I believed that he was targeted," Police Chief Richard Barreto said.
The FBI said it is assisting local and state police in the investigation. Versace's fellow designers and friends mourned his loss.
"Gianni Versace, together with a handful of names, symbolises the success of Italian fashion all over the world," said fellow designer Giorgio Armani. "My reaction is one of revolt against such an unnatural and violent death and one of profound grief."
"Throughout his career, especially in the past 10 years, Gianni Versace has left his mark on our times, with his vitality and joyful way of being," designer Emanuel Ungaro said in a statement.
Jacques Mouclier, president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, the French couture governing body, said Versace was admitted as "an unofficial member because of his talent, even though he doesn't create in Paris. He has really influenced fashion for years now. It was astonishing how he put clothes in focus with his use of models. He beautified women with a touch of modernism."
In London, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman for Diana, Princess of Wales, released a short statement saying Diana was "devastated at the loss of a great and talented man."
In Miami, Versace's three-story, Spanish-style home, is surrounded by a high wall and is the only private house on Ocean Drive, popularly known as "Deco Drive." Versace's renaissancestyle crest adorns the ornate entrances to his estate, which overlooks the Atlantic Ocean.
After the shooting, there was a puddle of blood on the steps of the residence, as well as numbered bullet casing markers and a black sandal. Hundreds of people had gathered across the street.
Eddie Bianchi said he was standing outside his skate shop a half block away when he heard two shots. He and his wife ran to the scene.
"I was shocked. I said to my wife, 'his is Gianni Versace,'.and she said, .'No this can't be'," Bianchi said. He said an assistant was running back and forth "like he didn't know what to do."
"I heard the shots. And when I arrived I saw a guy lying on the step in a pool of blood," said another witness, Martin Weinstein. "At first I didn't realise who it was. But then I realised it was Versace."
Along with Armani, Versace was considered Italy's leading ready-to-wear designer and a symbol of Italian fashion.
A native of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, he began designing ready-to-wear for other firms in 1972 in Milan. He launched the Gianni Versace label with an autumn-winter collection in 1978.
Last year, he transformed a derelict Vanderbilt mansion into a New York emporium. His lines included women's and men's wear, children's clothing, lingerie, beachwear, accessories and perfume. He also designed fabrics, linens and chinaware.
Actress and model Elizabeth Hurley called Versace "a very dear friend of mine ... He was massively talented."
Lisa Marie Presley said Versace "was rare talent, a genius as a designer." In London, designer Vivienne Westwood said Versace "was obviously one of the most talented and famous designers of the last few years."
Designer Mary Quant said Versace "was all about life. His designs were immediately recognisable as rich, glamorous and sexy. He dared to use a strong dash of vulgarity just beautifully. He was a man who everyone adored." Pop star Boy George, who has known and worked with Versace for years, said Versace was “nothing but a complete gentleman.”
Cindy Weber-Cleary, fashion director for Glamour magazine in New York, said Versace was among “only a handful of designers who really influence and inspire the whole fashion community, and he was one of the top two or three.
“He was one of the most knocked-off designers in the world. The minute his clothes went down the runway, they were knocked off the world over,” she said.
Versace - pronounced ver SAH chay - gained fame in the 1980s with his flamboyant styles for both men and women. He staged his fashion shows with blaring rock music, glaring flood lights and mega screens reproducing what was going on on the runway.
At his debut of his winter collection in Milan this March, Versace toned down his style, taking his models off the runway and letting them walk close to the audience.
