The brand’s new series, “VERSACE EMBODIED,” brings together a selection of artists to create work that explores the house’s foundational ideas.
Summary
- Versace’s new initiative, “VERSACE EMBODIED,” is a creative series designed to define the house’s modern identity outside of seasonal campaigns.
- The project gives a group of multidisciplinary artists a platform to interpret the brand’s core tenets of strength, rigor, and sexuality.
- Under the creative direction of Dario Vitale, the series blends contemporary art, film, and music with pieces from the Versace archive.
In a move away from the traditional campaign cycle, Versace is presenting its identity through a different lens. The house has introduced “VERSACE EMBODIED,” a multi-part creative series that brings together a group of artists and cultural figures to interpret the brand’s codes.
The project acts as a platform for these individuals to create new work—spanning photography, film, music, and poetry—that reflects Versace’s long-held principles of strength, rigor, and sexuality. The participants were invited to engage with the house’s history, mixing their contemporary viewpoints with items from the Versace archive. The result is a collection of original pieces that connect the brand’s past with its current cultural standing.
The initiative is guided by creative director Dario Vitale. Its conceptual starting point is the original Medusa head on the door of the company’s Milanese headquarters on Via Gesù, 12, suggesting a return to the source to inform the brand’s future.
CHAPTER ONE
Medusa, via Gesù, 12. Photographed by Camille Vivier, 2025
Camille Vivier, a photographer whose dreamlike style creates a world with a mythical and liberating spirit. Vivier captures the bronze cast Medusa decorating the door of the original Milan home and design atelier of Versace, and objects from the Versace archive.
Summer in the South of Italy. Photographed by Andrea Modica, 2025
Andrea Modica, a photographer renowned for her intimate black-and-white portraits, capturing youth exploring Southern Italy, connecting with the Mediterranean heritage of the House.
Versace ‘Istante’ catalogue. Photographed by Steven Meisel, Spring Summer 1997
Steven Meisel, a photographer with a long-standing relationship with Versace, collaborating with culture’s most innovative and experimental artists since the 1980s. ‘Istante’ from the archive of Steven Meisel, captured in New York.
‘Untitled’. Illustrations by Collier Schorr, 2025
Collier Schorr, an artist and photographer, whose intimate portraits cast a confronting lens on the subjects of her work, responding to the intimacy and sexuality that defines the House with a series of original illustrations.Bronzi di Riace c. 460-450 BC.
Exhibited at Palazzo del Quirinale, 1981
A photograph of two nude figures, cast in bronze, unveiled to the public for the first time in the Palazzo del Quirinale, 1981. Confronting virility and voyeurism captured by an unknown photographer. Statuesque sexuality, laid bare, to an awestruck public.
‘Put It Back’, a poem by Eileen Myles, 2025
Eileen Myles, a poet and novelist, blurring the lines of genre with a raw, unfiltered prose. Intensely personal and transgressive, ‘Put It Back’ is an instinctive response to the inherent intimacy and physicality of Versace.
‘Ponyboy’, a shared space for physical expression.
Olly Elyte, a model, musician, and dancer based between London, New York, and Los Angeles, creating space for uninhibited physical expression, connection and community through dance. Embodying Versace’s forthright and liberating physicality.
Binx on a bike. Photographed by Stef Mitchell, 2025
Binx Walton, a model and artist, captured by Stef Mitchell. Renowned for her arresting and intimate portraits of independence and youth, connecting with the irreverent and youthful attitude of Versace.
