Versace and the new old magic: William Vintage opens up the Gianni Versace archive
After over a month of fashion weeks - New York, London, Milan and Paris – it’s surprising that the most memorable moment amidst all the novelty on show was the return of 1990s supermodels on the Versace catwalk. I have rarely seen the inscrutable fashion crowd lose their marbles, but as Cindy, Claudia, Helena, Naomi and Carla (all require only first names, obviously) minced along behind Donatella Versace after a triumphant show marking 20 years since the death of her brother, designer Gianni, the crowds broke into euphoric rapture, myself included. (Also to note, the supers were looking better than ever 20 years down the line.)
If the show gained power by looking to the past, the clothes being represented were also channeling nostalgia. There was Gucci’s logo tee, 70s vintage prints from Balenciaga, 90s logo-mania Dior bags and Ralph Lauren’s use of their iconic insignia. Indeed, it seems to be the perfect time for Versace’s archive prints to make a come back, whether new or, in fact, vintage.
Such a moment equally suits William Banks-Blaney, who founded William Vintage back in 2009 and is a magician when it comes to sourcing some of the best vintage to be found on the planet. With online platform Farfetch, he’s launching what’s believed to be the largest vintage collection ever made available for sale. As of October 10th, over 500 Gianni Versace archive pieces will be available exclusively via Farfetch, the William Vintage website and the flagship store in Marylebone. This dwarfs event the Met’s show celebrating Gianni Versace in the year after he died, which had only 187 pieces.
Banks-Blaney’s collection spans the 20 years from Versace’s early designs in 1977, through to his final autumn/winter 1997 collection. He is effusive when it comes to the brand, as I discovered when I sat down with him to discuss his new collaboration with Farfetch: “The Versace moment really came about personally; I was in my early 20s at the early 90s moment. So the first time I really started to look at fashion and its fantasy and its joy was with Versace…and I fell in love with this extravagance and opulence, and a real unapologetic sense of dress up. Suddenly finding ourselves approaching the 20th anniversary of his death and having always loved Versace, we wanted to start thinking about we would do.
"There was an ardent Versace collector I knew and after a conversation, I managed to convince them to part with their collection. Over the last 18 months we have been building upon it and really focusing in on key collections, getting those key iconic pieces, across all of Gianni’s work; whether that’s a great jacket, a pair of jeans, a ball gown, day dress or a fantastic suit. So there’s a really layered representation.”
The over-the-top archive scarf prints and the head-to-toe looks with jangly belts and earrings shown on the runway resonates with Banks-Blaney’s vision of fashion today. “There’s a huge romanticism coming back into fashion in the contemporary collections,” Banks-Blaney says. “Oversized prints, bright colours and asymmetry at work- which Versace really heralded in the 80s and 90s. I think it resonates now because we want to have a smile on our face again… I really wanted to do something that wasn’t about commemorating his death but really about celebrating his life, because he’s one of the few people I really wish I had crossed paths with because whenever I’ve seen him on interview, whenever I’ve seen a photograph of him, whenever I’ve seen him talk to women in stills, whenever you watch his runways… his absolute love of women was so obvious; to see a woman who was in charge of her own destiny, who was strong, who was confident, who was kind of grabbing life by the balls. I think that that is a really important message.”
The collection of Versace archive pieces will be available exclusively via Farfetch, the William Vintage website and the flagship store in Marylebone ( 2 Marylebone Street, London W1G 8JQ ) from 10th October.
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