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The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival
Three Rivers Press
January 2011
On Sale: January 4, 2011
352 pages ISBN: 0307406520 EAN: 9780307406521 Kindle: B00362XLH8 Paperback / e-Book
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Non-Fiction | True Crime
Versace. The very name conjures up images of
outrageous glamour and bold sexuality, opulence and daring.
All of course true, but only half the story. Versace is also
the legacy of a great creative genius from a poor, backward
part of southern Italy who transformed the fashion world
through his intuitive understanding of both women and how a
changing culture influenced the way they wanted to dress.
The first book in English about the legendary
designer, House of Versace shows how Gianni
Versace, with his flamboyant sister Donatella at his side,
combined his virtuosic talent and extraordinary ambition to
almost single-handedly create the celebrity culture we take
for granted today.
Gianni Versace was at the
height of his creative powers when he was murdered in Miami
Beach. The story was front page news around the world and
the manhunt for his killer a media obsession. His beloved
sister Donatella demanded no less than a funeral befitting
an assassinated head-of-state to be held in Milan’s
magnificent cathedral. In what was the ultimate fashion
show, the world’s rich and beautiful – Princess Dianna,
Elton John, Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Carolyn
Bessette-Kennedy, Anna Wintour and others – gathered to
mourn a man already considered one of fashion’s great
pioneers. Deborah
Ball, a long-time Milan correspondent for The Wall Street
Journal, conducted hundreds of interviews with Versace
family members, Gianni Versace’s lovers and business rivals,
models such as Naomi Campbell whom he helped shoot to
international stardom and fashion industry icons, including
Anna Wintour, the legendary editor of
Vogue.
Ball vividly recounts the
behind-the scenes struggles – both creative and business –
of Donatella as she stepped out of her brother’s long shadow
and took control of the House of Versace. The book offers
the first inside look at the enormous challenges Donatella
faced in living up to Gianni’s genius, her struggle with a
drug habit, her battles with her brother Santo and the
mystery of why Gianni left control of his house to
Donatella’s young daughter, Allegra. House of Versace
is a compelling, highly readable tale of rise from
obscurity, a painful fall and ultimate redemption as the
Versace empire returned to health – for
now.
Bringing together fashion, celebrity,
business drama, jet-set lifestyles, and a notorious crime,
House of Versace is an old-fashioned page-turner
about a subject of enduring fascination.
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