In 1978, Gianni Versace had a vision for a new fashion line and opened his first boutique in Milan. By 1997, he had 130 high-end boutiques around the world — and was a global fashion titan worth $807 million.
Known for his colorfully vibrant designs, he transcended the fashion world with his strategic tactic of winning over A-list supporters and putting them in the forefront of his brand, like working with supermodels and having celebrities like Madonna and Elton John in the front row of his fashion shows.
Sitting on top of a high-stakes empire, which he ran with sister, Donatella, and brother, Santo, Versace needed a place where he could retreat and relax. And on a trip with Miami Beach’s South Beach in 1991, he found his haven.
“The mood is very, very easy,” he told the Miami Herald of the city in 1993, according to The New York Times. “That is special and I don't find the mood any place else in the world.”
Unfortunately, it was there, in his happy place where he didn’t have any worries in the world, that Versace was killed by a gunman on the steps of his Ocean Drive home.
