Vanitas: Designs [Hardcover]

Gianni Versace (Author), Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman (Author), Richard Avedon (Photographer), Irving Penn (Photographer), Bruce Weber (Photographer), Hamish Bowles (Commentary), Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

From the theatrical to the whimsical, Gianni Versace's designs have something for everyone. On these pages, his sketches and finished works of haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, and opera and ballet costumes as well as artworks created by and for Versace are interpreted by top photographers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Bruce Weber. The pictures are accompanied by three very different kinds of writing: commentary by Hamish Bowles, Style Editor of American Vogue; a new short story by Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, an Italian journalist and award-winning novelist; and a text by Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Italian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Abbeville Press; 1st English ed edition (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558598049
• ISBN-13: 978-1558598041
• Product Dimensions: 13.3 x 9.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,490,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully wonderful example of Gianni Versace's work, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Vanitas: Designs (Hardcover)

This is my favorite book on Gianni Versace! It does an excellent job of showing excellent examples of the beautiful embellishments that make Versace what it is...SPECTACULAR. The art work is beautiful and the full color pictures are why this book is on my cofee table. It sums up Versace's work wonderfully!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BEAUTIFUL, BOLD, SOMETIMES BRASH COLLECTION, September 15, 2005

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vanitas: Designs (Hardcover)

Gianni Versace - just the name brings to mind visions of high fashion, haute couture, incredibly beautiful fabrics swishing by on colt-like mannequins with arched eyebrows and the highest cheekbones. Vanitas: Designs is glamour between covers as it presents the designs, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry and costumes by Versace.

The almost 300 folio-size, full-page startlingly colorful picturers are accompanied by texts penned by Hamish Bowles, Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman, Andre Leon Talley, and Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti. Quotes by Versace enliven the already quick paced commentary.

The section on embroidery, from buttonholes to ball gowns, features garments decorated with threads of gold and silver, bugle beads, all reflecting Versace's eye for the imaginatively stunning.

Here is a beautiful, bold, sometimes brash collection of some of the most opulent designs in our world of fashion.

- Gail Cooke

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Publisher, October 24, 2005

By 

Earl R. Sutton "earlsutton" (Detroit, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vanitas: Designs (Hardcover)

"From the theatrical to the whimsical, Gianni Versace's designs have something for everyone. On these pages, his sketches and finished works of haute couture, ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, and opera and ballet costumes as well as artworks created by and for Versace are interpreted by top photographers such as Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and Bruce Weber. The pictures are accompanied by three very different kinds of writing: commentary by Hamish Bowles, Style Editor of American Vogue; a new short story by Isabella Bossi Fedrigotti, an Italian journalist and award-winning novelist; and a text by Lady Julia Trevelyan Oman."