Gianni Versace and other celebrities who became victims of serial killers. Gianni Versace biography, death, photo, personal life

How one of the most famous fashion empires was built.

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The site's observer studied the history of the Gianni Versace fashion house, founded in 1978 by the famous fashion designer Gianni Versace and which has gone from a small local brand to one of the most famous in the world. Gianni Versace survived the death of its founder with great difficulty, but eventually regained its position in the market and is now planning an IPO.

Today, the Versace brand produces a wide range of products, ranging from collections of women's and men's clothing to towels and kitchen tiles. The fashion house was created by one of the most influential fashion designers - Gianni Versace - and owes its initial success and worldwide fame solely to its founder.

Santo, Gianni and Donatella Versace

Gianni Versace. Creation of the Gianni Versace fashion house

According to Versace, fashion should be capricious and extravagant. He embodied his views in collections that violated canons and foundations. Versace was a supporter of the Italian neo-baroque style. His collections combined a passion for contrasts and excesses, a combination different styles and kitsch.

Versace's style has often been criticized. In London he was considered vulgar, and Armani accused the designer of turning high fashion in a porn show. He also claimed that Gianni creates clothes for girls of easy virtue. Contrary to public opinion, Versace was able to find his audience, and by the end of the 80s, his outfits were worn by celebrities from all over the world.

Gianni Versace in the 80s and 90s. The Assassination of Gianni Versace

In 2012, the company invested in development in China, Malaysia, the USA, Brazil, Europe, and Hong Kong. New beach and lingerie collections, couture Atelier Versace and Young Versace, intended for children, were presented.

One of the main innovations was the launch of the e-commerce site versace.com. Plans were then announced for further development directions, including launching in most countries of the world, creating specialized microsites and launching applications.

In 2015, e-commerce accounted for only 2% of the company's direct sales. However, Versace also works in partnership with others trading platforms, so this figure is slightly higher. The same year, the Atelier Versace Haute Joaillerie collection of exclusive jewelry was launched. The items included in it are made by hand and exclusively to order. The collection is produced by the company's partners in Dubai.

In 2013, the company continued to open stores, of which there were 137 by 2014. The company's profit grew by 27.6%, and sales reached €479.2 million. The company's fastest growing market was the United States.

At the same time, Ferraris decided that the company needed to raise funds from outside. To search for a potential partner, he turned to Intesa and Goldman Sachs. The best option It turned out to be the Blackstone Group, which bought 20% of the company for €210 million. The deal was completed in 2014.

In the same year, the company opened 40 boutiques. Versace presented several successful collections and ended the year with the usual growth in financial performance. The company's profit increased by 27% to €26.3 million.

Versace's success allowed its shareholders and management to think about a previously planned IPO. The Versace family has long been striving for Versace to go public, but considers it mandatory to maintain full control over the company.

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Versace Gianni (born December 2, 1946 - died July 15, 1997) - Italian fashion designer. He founded his own company fashionable clothes(1978) and in the same year Versace presented his menswear collection, which immediately became a success.

The new type of fashion shows that he introduced turned this event into a real performance with decorations, music, and the involvement of professional actors and musicians. I sewed suits for rock stars and members of royal families. He also created branded perfumes and various accessories. He died at the hands of serial killer Andrew Cunanan in Miami Beach near his mansion Villa Casuarina (Florida, America).

Who killed Gianni Versace

The FBI said the case was closed. But I don't agree with this. And I won’t tire of repeating: Versace was killed by the mafia! This is investigator Frank Mont speaking.

He insists on his version, according to which the world famous designer paid in 1997 with his life for challenging the mafia leaders. Well, those who planned and carried out the murder arranged everything so that suspicion fell on the “serial killer” - homosexual Andrew Cunanan. He was already suspected of having sent 4 people to the next world. Having falsified the evidence of this guy’s “guilt”, they then staged his suicide - a dead man cannot testify...

Gianni Versace Assassination Day

That day, the fashion designer, as always, left the house at 8 am and headed to a trendy bar-cafe located about two hundred meters away. Around 9 he reappeared on the street, holding several magazines under his arm. A young man of about 25 was waiting for him at the crossroads. sunglasses, dark trousers, a white T-shirt and a shoulder bag. When Versace walked up to the fence of his house, climbed three steps and took out the keys, the guy in the T-shirt approached him almost closely.

The first shot was fired - in the head. The fashion designer fell, bleeding profusely. Taking a step back, the killer again brought the gun to the victim’s head, but now from the right side, and fired again...

Several people who heard the shots ran to the scene. One of them bent down, hastily tore a page from a magazine that had fallen from Versace’s hands, and dipped it in the blood flowing down the steps. He explained to the dumbfounded witnesses: “A souvenir...”

And the killer Gianni Versace escaped. “Andrew Cunanan, he killed it,” everyone is repeating now. On the police card, the face of the alleged killer is crossed out with a red stripe with the inscription: “Found dead.”

Background

The guy took the answers to many questions with him to the grave, says Frank Mont.

Frank is the head of a private investigation agency that is very famous. He claimed that in the spring of 1997, Gianni Versace approached him, who wanted to conduct a series of investigations that were very important to him. The fashion designer, according to the detective, suspected that the mafia had infiltrated his business and was actively laundering “dirty” money. “I volunteered,” says Frank, “to clarify the situation.” And in fact, he managed to collect some information that made it possible to talk about the mafia trail.

According to Mont, the couturier was clearly afraid that he would be kidnapped. Versace knew he was walking into a minefield, but he was determined to end the criminalization of his business. He wanted to hold a press conference at the end of the summer and reveal the names of scammers and criminals.

The famous fashion designer learned not only about the laundering of “dirty” money behind his back, but also that criminal structures organized mass production of products with his brand and were earning enormous money from it, says Frank. - He was very brave man and at the same time very naive. I wanted to put a spoke in the wheels of a machine that was making huge profits. Did he really seriously believe that the criminals would give up their positions without resistance? The mafia killed him. This is her handwriting - 2 shots from behind to the head. Typical mafia massacre. And one more thing: a dead dove was found near Cunanan's body. Classic warning: whoever “sings” will pay. What and to whom was the murdered man going to “sing”? The FBI says the pigeon died accidentally when it was hit by a bullet fragment. What fragment? And then - a pigeon in the room! Well, isn't it nonsense?

Police version

Here are the police's arguments accusing Cunanan:

Gianni Versace was killed with a .40 caliber pistol. The same weapon was stolen from the first victim of the alleged killer.

Not far from the couturier’s house, they found a red Chevrolet pickup truck parked. The exact same one was stolen from the penultimate victim.

A passport with a false name was found in the car, and on the ground, between the wheels, they found abandoned clothes that the killer was wearing when he approached his victim.

The fingerprints that were taken from the dead Cunanan matched those found on the hood of the red car. The same fingerprints were found on a mortgage note from an antique store, which the killer visited 5 days before the murder, signing his own name.

Alternative version

“All this is too beautiful to be true,” Monta commented. - Investigators took a rather convenient path for them: having accused Cunanan, they immediately pinned 5 unsolved crimes on him... The police immediately jumped at the opportunity to show that another “serial killer” had been caught.

Having rushed to report this, Mont continues, the police did not (or did not want to pay) attention to details that refute their version. The watchman, who was near the entrance to the villa at the time of the murder of Gianni Versace, heard the killer speaking to the designer in Italian. Cunanan didn't know Italian. From my sources close to the police, they found out that the fashion designer was shot with a 22-caliber pistol, not a 40-caliber. The red Chevrolet pickup truck had been parked where it was found for two months, and there is no evidence that Cunanan drove it. Moreover, at first the police said: there were no fingerprints, and then they suddenly appeared on the hood of the car!

The discovered passport was issued under a false name, but where is the evidence that Cunanan could have used it? During the first inspection of the scene of the tragedy, they “didn’t notice” the clothes lying under the car - they saw them later. But is it possible to say that it could have belonged to the one who killed the couturier? I believe Andrew had nothing to do with the murder. The one who killed Gianni Versace then dealt with the unfortunate guy. My informants in police circles reported that when his body was discovered on a houseboat belonging to a famous homosexual who ran a gay sauna in Miami, everyone was surprised: it was frozen! Yes, there was a pool of blood around, but it was not his blood. And, according to the examination, fingerprints were “left” on the receipt from the antique store already dead person.

In general, the story with the receipt seems simply fantastic to me. Is it really possible that such a cunning “serial killer”, who cleverly eluded the police, could do such a stupid thing - hand over a stolen coin to him and even sign the receipts with his name, which (he could not help but know this) appeared in the list of the 10 most wanted criminals in the US?

Other version versions

There are many rumors and dubious stories surrounding the murder of Gianni Versace. Among them, for example, is the assumption of a close and far from platonic friendship between the alleged killer and a fashion designer who did not hide his homosexual inclinations, patronized gays and allocated considerable sums to help those infected with AIDS. He considered it his personal matter. But then a certain maid from Miami said that she saw how one day Versace, talking with Andrew, shouted in rage: “I won’t give you any more money! You've already had enough! And in general I don’t want to have anything to do with you!”

By the way, after the lifeless body of the alleged killer was discovered, the police reported: Cunanan was HIV-positive, and therefore, in a fit of rage, he decided to take revenge on his lovers, who could be guilty of his fatal disease. Meanwhile, tests showed that Cunanan was not at all sick with AIDS, and the version of revenge fell apart. It seems that there is not a single direct evidence that it was he who committed the crimes mentioned. Now they say that Cunanan was connected with the international mafia, which hired him to kill the fashion designer. What, they say, was he right hand the head of the Gamma Mu organization, a mysterious “gay lodge” created like a Masonic one, and carried out some mystical task...

According to another, absolutely fantastic version, the couturier did not die, but staged his murder. The face of the murdered man was disfigured beyond recognition, and sales of Versace collections went up at tremendous speed.

Be that as it may, the investigation of the crime has not yet been completed...

Gianni Versace

Subject mysterious death famous fashion designer Gianni Versace has haunted many researchers for 19 years. On July 15, 1997, the fashion designer was shot and killed on the steps of his Miami mansion. The killer was found very quickly, but before his arrest he committed suicide. According to the official version, the motive for the crime was homosexual acts, but this explanation does not sound convincing. Very little is still known about the real reasons for the murder.

Andrew Cunanan

Andrew Cunanan

The murder case of Gianni Versace was solved surprisingly quickly - in just two weeks. The killer was serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who already had four victims. He made his living through prostitution, and, according to one version, all those killed were his lovers. He was wanted, but the police were unable to detain him. Suspicion fell on him when a van containing clothes with traces of the blood of the serial killer's last victim was found near the Versace mansion. All the evidence pointed too clearly to a single suspect. In his suicide note, he allegedly admitted that he killed the fashion designer as a “banner of homosexuality.” But the killer himself was a representative gay, and therefore this explanation sounds illogical. The real motive for the crime remains unclear.


The Versace mansion in Miami, near which the murder was committed

Private detective Frank Mont is confident that the southern Italian criminal group N'drangetta was involved in the murder of Versace. According to his version, the designer was killed because he dared to challenge the mafia. The murder was organized so that suspicion would fall on a serial killer, whose suicide was later staged. The detective claims that several months before his death, Versace contacted his agency with a request to conduct an investigation. He suspected that the mafia had infiltrated his business for the purpose of money laundering. The fashion designer allegedly planned to hold a press conference at the end of summer and announce the names of the criminals.

The designer was from Calabria, and even during Versace’s lifetime there were rumors about his connections with the Calabrian mafia. His rise was too rapid and sudden, which led fashion historians to speculate about the help of sponsors from the underworld. Where the young designer got his start-up capital from and how he was able to open his own fashion house is truly a mystery. Perhaps it was South Italian money criminal group, with whom the couturier later did not want to share his income. A year before Versace's death, a scandal erupted in which many designers were involved, whose fashion houses were fronts for mafia money laundering. Gianni was also accused, but he himself categorically denied his connections with the criminal world.

Gianni Versace

The great couturier, the mystery of whose death has not yet been revealed

The Calabrian mafia often traded in counterfeiting famous brands, and when Versace gained worldwide popularity, factories producing counterfeit goods appeared in Italy. Versace declared war on underground factories: due to cheap counterfeits that flooded the market, his brand was losing prestige. In addition, he lost hundreds of millions of dollars: in 1995-1996. the turnover of counterfeit products was two-thirds higher than the income of the Versace Fashion House. The designer collaborated with the Yellow Flame, the anti-corruption police, and personally participated in investigations exposing the activities of underground factories. Versace brand emblem for a long time there was a Gorgon Medusa, but since it was the one most often counterfeited, the couturier publicly abandoned this emblem.

The great couturier, the mystery of whose death has not yet been revealed

Of course, the Calabrian mafia could not help but react to such violent resistance and opposition. Repeatedly, Versace received peculiar black marks: once, in his garden, he found a dead bird, then - dead dog. But the designer was not stopped by these warnings. He was a fatalist and believed that fate could not be avoided. Versace did not use security services and often went out unaccompanied. Therefore, it was not difficult for the killer to carry out his plan.

Gianni Versace

Famous Italian fashion designer

However, if this was truly the work of the mafia, why did they entrust the murder not to a hitman, but to a mentally unstable serial killer? Obviously, this mystery is still far from its final solution.

The fashionable king of the Italian Baroque, balancing on the verge of kitsch. His work was filled with exceptional simplicity and did not recognize half measures. All this is Gianni Versace, the famous Italian couturier. The public was shocked when he was shot dead on the steps of his own home on July 15, 1997. The story of the mysterious murder of the king of fashion will be told todayAmateur. media.

Who killed fashion designer Versace?

The murder of Versace, who was at the peak of his popularity in the 90s, shocked the public. At that time, the fashion designer dressed Madonna and even Princess Diana.

Versace

The Versace killer made money from prostitution and was in love with Tom Cruise

The circumstances of the death, at first glance quite simple, nevertheless raised a lot of questions. According to the official version, Gianni Versace was killed by a 27-year-old white American named Andrew Cuananan. The man made his living by prostitution. At that time, Andrew was already wanted, suspected of 4 murders and was considered one of the 10 most dangerous criminals on the FBI list. Suspicion fell on him when investigators discovered a van with bloody clothes inside, which belonged to Cuananan's last victim, near the Versace mansion. But the only thing that didn’t fit in this mosaic was the motive for the crime.

Maniac killer

The FBI, together with psychiatrists, found that Cuananan had sadomasochistic tendencies: the fact is that he was in love with Tom Cruise, who obviously did not share his feelings.

Andrew Cuananan

Out of passion, Andrew went crazy, and his first victim was his lover David Madson. Versace did not hide his homosexual orientation, so one might suspect that he had some kind of connection with the killer. But this information was never confirmed. However, the murder was carefully planned, and Andrew never chose victims at random.

Cinematic history

The killer did not provide an explanation: he committed suicide. This story is no less mysterious: a few days after the murder, Andrew was surrounded in a house on the water, where he was kept under siege for 14 hours. Later, the police carried out a corpse with a bloody face. It was as if it had been blown away by a shot, but none of the policemen heard the shot. Still, according to the official version, the killer shot himself with the same pistol with which he shot Versace.

Versace Killer Andrew Cuananan shot himself with the same pistol

Contract murder

All these secrets aroused suspicion. Some thought that the mafia might be involved in the murder of the fashion designer. A year before Versace's death, rumors spread in Italy that some designers were covering up money laundering. Gianni was also accused of this, but he categorically denied his connection with the mafia. But many refused to believe that one of the richest people the country is clean before the law.

After the death of Gianni Versace, the company was headed by his sister Donatella

At the same time, another version appeared, about a murder ordered by the family. There were already precedents: in 1995, Maurizio Gucci's wife ordered the murder of her husband due to disagreements over company policies. A similar situation could have developed with Versace: at that time, Gianni completely stopped worrying about the company’s finances and was exclusively engaged in creativity. The money issue fell entirely on the shoulders of Gianni's sister, Donatella. Problems could also be caused by the fact that by the beginning of the 90s, a huge amount of fake clothes marked with the Versace sign began to appear. All this could very well lead to conflicts in the family. Moreover, after Gianni’s death, the reins of power passed into the hands of Donatella. True, both versions of the contract killing leave one question unanswered: why was a serial killer hired as a hitman?

Versace is alive

Gianni Versace was so famous that he had his own army of fans. He was sort of the Elvis Presley of the fashion industry - a real king. As in the case of the death of the king of rock and roll, after the murder of Versace, some suggested that the couturier had not died at all, but had only faked his death. They said that Versace was simply tired of work and decided to retire somewhere on the ocean. In addition, the company at that time clearly could use some advertising: after the murder, fashionistas rushed to buy dresses from the Italian couturier. Some also doubted that the body of Versace’s real killer had been found: Andrew’s face was disfigured, and the fingerprint examination lasted almost 10 hours! It seemed that the police were simply trying to close the sensational case as soon as possible.

Gianni Versace was a kind of Elvis Presley in the fashion industry

Gianni was buried near Lake Como, in the garden of Villa Fontanello. 2000 people gathered at his funeral. And in December 1997, an exhibition dedicated to the work of the couturier was opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Avtoa: Ekaterina Astafieva