Groninger Museum will celebrate Gianni Versace’s colourful and daring fashion with a major retrospective of his creations.

The flamboyant designer was murdered 25 years ago outside his home in Miami but his revolutionary creative spirit lives on in the fashion of today.

Running from 2 December 2022 through 7 May 2023, Gianni Versace Retrospective will showcase men’s and women’s outfits, accessories, drawings, and footage of legendary shows harking back to the Italian designer’s glory days between 1989 and 1997.

Gianni Versace (1946–1997) was a pioneer. He challenged traditional images of masculinity and femininity, designing clothing for both sexes and referencing sexuality and power in his collections. As an openly gay man, he became a key figure in the LGBTQ movement. He also encouraged women to be self-confident enough not to hide their bodies.

A clever marketer, Versace recruited celebrities to promote his brand. At the same time, he turned previously unknown models such as Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer and Cindy Crawford into supermodel.

Versace’s groundbreaking combinations and strong patterns sprang from his vast knowledge of visual culture and art history. He brought together classical and pop art imagery and found inspiration in figures from ancient Greece as well as subjects like bondage and SM. Versace worked with artists like Andy Warhol, Jim Dine and Julian Schnabel, raising the profile of the marriage between old and new like never before.