From Calabria to international fashion
Born in 1946, Versace grew up in Reggio di Calabria, a place that greatly influenced his career. He became a fashion designer and businessman and founded an international luxury-fashion house.
Visual art
Gianni Versace
Founder of the international luxury-fashion house Versace and one of the first designers to link fashion with the music world.
Gianni Versace was an Italian fashion designer and businessman who founded the luxury-fashion house Versace. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. Born and raised in Reggio di Calabria, which greatly influenced his career, he later restored Villa Fontanelle as an art-filled retreat on Lake Como. He was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion in 1997.
Worth knowing
A house beyond clothing
Versace founded the luxury-fashion house that bears his name. The company produces clothes, accessories, fragrances, make-up and home furnishings, while Versace also designed costumes for theatre and films.
Fashion and music
Versace was among the first designers to link fashion with the music world. His friends included Elton John, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton and Tupac Shakur, as well as models and other celebrities.
Villa Fontanelle
Versace restored the neglected Villa Fontanelle and used it as his art-filled retreat on Lake Como.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Lived here
Villa Fontanelle
Versace restored the neglected villa and used it as his art-filled Lake Como retreat.
Traces in other cities
- Milan
- Versace Palace on Via Gesù — Versace directed his fashion house from this palace during the brand’s dramatic international expansion.
Follow the story on foot
These addresses are scattered across the city. Our routes and quests put them in an order that works.