Versace collection sees the light again

Imaginechina

Gold snake jeans, bondage dresses, silk jodhpurs: More than 100 outfits created by Gianni Versace are going on show in Berlin, some 20 years after the designer’s death.

Organizers of the “Gianni Versace Retrospective” opening Tuesday at the German capital’s Kronprinzenpalais (Crown Prince’s Palace) put together the show with contributions from private collectors around the world.

Versace’s sexy and daring clothes in the 1980s and 1990s made him a favorite among rockers, Hollywood stars and other celebrities. The wide-ranging exhibit covers both women’s and menswear, and includes pieces such as a tailcoat ensemble made for Sting’s wedding in 1992.

He was gunned down outside his Miami Beach, Florida, mansion on July 15, 1997, by Andrew Cunanan, who killed himself a few days later.

Co-curator Karl von der Ahe said the new show stemmed from a chance meeting with a major Versace collector, which generated a desire to “show the breadth of the work.”

The exhibition is arranged by theme, rather than chronologically — starting, for example, with a room of creations in black and gold.

Versace had his first exhibition in Berlin in 1994 and, organizers said, had planned to come back to the city — not one of the top traditional fashion centers.

The exhibition runs until April 13.