The fashion house also produces accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings as well as clothes. Versaci also designed costumes for the theatre and movies, and was a friend of Elton John, Sting, and Princess Diana among many others.
Openly gay, Versace and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene.
On July 15, 1997, he was murdered outside his Miami Beach home, the former Casa Casuarina,[1] at the age of 50 by spree killerAndrew Cunanan.
Death
Versace's Miami Beach mansion, 2009
On 15 July 1997, Andrew Cunanan fatally shot Versace on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion.[2] Eight days later, Cunanan shot himself on a boat with the same gun he used to shoot Versace.[3] Versace's body was cremated and his ashes were returned to the family's estate near Cernobbio, Italy.
Legacy
In September 1997, it was announced Versace's brother, Santo Versace, and Jorge Saud would serve as the new CEOs of Gianni Versace S.P.A. Versace's sister, Donatella, became the new head of design.
In his will, Gianni Versace left 50 percent of his fashion empire to his niece Allegra Versace, daughter of Donatella. Allegra inherited this stake, worth around half a billion dollars, when she turned 18 in 2004. Her younger brother, Daniel, inherited Versace's rare artwork collection.
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