When those not particularly in the fashion know think of the legendary house of Versace, the mind makes a beeline through the iconic prints to the sleek, blonde figure that is Donatella.
Flashback to 1978 and the reality is that, before his surviving sister, there was Gianni. The visionary Italian clothing designer at the centre of the FX true crime series ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ (2018) currently streaming on Netflix.
Starring Édgar Ramírez as the famous designer and Darren Criss as spree killer Andrew Cunanan, the series chronicles Gianni’s rise to fame before his untimely death at the hand of Cunanan.
An unauthorised take on the events leading up to Versace’s murder additionally starring Ricky Martin and Penélope Cruz, ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ offers insight into Versace’s life, genius, work ethic, struggles and the beginning of his legend interspersed with dives into the mind, lies and last moments of Cunanan, played enigmatically by Criss.
Essentially a conman obsessed with the designer whom he may or may not have actually met, Cunanan, a Filipino, occupies the wearing intersections of foreigner, gay man and lower-class American which make a complex case for his delusional motives as fictionalised in the series.
An engrossing, well-acted series about a pathological social climber turned spree killer through a mixture of coddling, narcissism and a dogged pursuit of the American Dream, ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ sobers when considering gay life in the 1990s and startles in the sheer waste of Versace, Cunanan and all the people pointlessly murdered in his wake.
‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ (2018) is now streaming on Netflix.
– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com
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