History of Versace

A History of Versace and Versace Watches
Versace is an Italian clothier founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. After Gianni was killed by Andrew Cunanan on July 15, 1997, his sister Donatella, formerly vice-president, stepped in as creative director of the designing House and his older brother Santo became CEO. Currently, Donatella controls the majority of the company's assets until her daughter, Allegra, the sole-heiress of the Versace fortune, is prepared to take an active role.
The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan's Via della Spiga in 1978, and its popularity was immediate. Today, Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. Versace designs, markets and distributes luxury clothing, accessories, fragrances, makeup and home furnishings under the various brands of the Versace Group.
Gianni Versace and Frank Mueller launched their first watch collection line in 1994. The name of the first collection was Atelier and soon became a must among fashionistas and Versace brand lovers. Since then, the collection of Versace timepieces has evolved and the range of products of the Medusa fashion brand has greatly been expanded. Versace watch lines are produced under license agreement in Switzerland. Timex bought the license in 2005 but the Versace watch line is still produced and operated from Switzerland by Vertime SA. Since the discontinuation of the Atelier collection a new line from the Italian fashion house, Versace Precious Items evolved. The collection includes watches, fine jewelry, and writing instruments.