It is the most talked-about brand of the moment Versace. After Donatella’s farewell and the swift but impactful creative direction of Dario Vitale, who presented his only collection last September 2025, the iconic Italian fashion house made headlines for being bought by the Prada Group, with Lorenzo Bertelli at the helm. Then, just a few months ago, the long-awaited announcement of the person who will lead the brand’s new stylistic vision, namely Pieter Mulier, the Belgian designer long the right-hand man of Raf Simons – in turn the soul in double-strand with Miuccia of the Prada collections – as well as the successful former creative director of Alaïa, a French brand that benefited from his talents for a good five years. While waiting to find out what Mulier’s approach to the brand will be – not expected before 2027 – we cannot help but feel a touch of healthy nostalgia for the one and only founder of a cult, as well as a brand, namely the visionary, multifaceted and legendary Gianni Versace.
Now, Paris pays tribute to the designer who symbolized an era, that of hedonism at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, supermodels and beauty as an absolute value. The “Gianni Versace retrospective” exhibition, curated by Saskia Lubnow and Karl von der Ahé with an immersive set design by Nathalie Crinière, will land at the Musée Maillol from June 5 to Sept. 6, 2026, on the eve of what would have been the 80th birthday of the late designer, who was snatched from life 30 years ago. Nearly 450 pieces including iconic clothes, accessories, sketches, photographs and archival materials will be on display. A collection of creations tracing the designer’s entire career, from his origins in the family atelier in Calabria to the international catwalks.
The installation will take the visitor on an immersive journey aimed at discovering the genius designer’s innumerable sources of inspiration, from religious iconography to classical Greek sculpture-part of Calabria’s Mediterranean DNA-from Italian opera to Baroque. An imaginary dialogue with the great masters of art such as Sandro Botticelli, Antonio Canova and Pablo Picasso, but also with the visual energy of Andy Warhol’s Pop art and Julian Schnabel’s contemporary suggestions. A key chapter of the exhibition itinerary will then be devoted to the photographic image, with shots signed by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino, who have contributed to building the brand’s sensual imagery.
The retrospective also explores the unbreakable bond between Versace and international pop culture. Indeed, Gianni’s creative genius sensed, before many others, the importance of involving celebrities, true ambassadors of a brand. His ties went far beyond the simple occasional collaboration, but became true friendships, artistic partnerships that still make people dream, such as those with Lady Diana and Elizabeth Hurley, just to name a few, as well as with the most important supermodels of the time, such as Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. Gianni was the architect of their unstoppable phenomenon. From the punk and bondage suggestions of the 1990s to the more essential lines of recent years, passing through the sunny Miami aesthetic and the iconic silk prints, the exhibition recounts the evolution of a style that redefined the dialogue between fashion, art and contemporaneity. It is no coincidence that this retrospective lands precisely in Paris. For Gianni Versace, in fact, the French capital represented international consecration, the place where “you had to be.” It was here, in 1989, that the designer launched his couture line Atelier Versace during Fashion Week-a line that would be revived precisely with Mulier in 2027-transforming his fashion shows at the Ritz into majestic events.
[📷MEGA]
