The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2026 - Issue 39

biteexhibition and sweep. From the punk and bondage‑inflected pieces of the early 1990s to the sun‑drenched Miami glamour that coloured his later collections, from the riotous silk prints to the surprising minimalism that emerged toward the end of his career, the retrospective reveals a designer who never stopped experimenting. Versace’s work consistently pushed the boundaries between fashion, art, and contemporary culture, creating a dialogue that still resonates today. Paris plays a crucial role in this narrative. For Versace, born in Calabria in 1946, the French capital was the world’s runway, the place where fashion history was written. Yet he was also instrumental in shifting the industry’s centre of gravity toward Milan in the late 1970s, helping Italian ready‑to‑wear claim its place on the global stage. Still, Paris remained the symbolic heart of couture, and in 1989 Versace launched Atelier Versace, choosing to present his haute couture collections during Paris Fashion Week. His shows at the Ritz Hotel on Place Vendôme became leg‑ endary, thanks to the clothes and the atmospheric court of glamour, spectacle, and star power that only he could orchestrate. It was in Paris, too, that Versace made his final runway appearance in 1997, surrounded by the supermodels who had become part of his extended creative family. The ret‑ rospective honours this history by adopting the runway as its central motif, where the catwalk becomes architecture and metaphor, a path through the designer's life, a stage on which his ideas continue to move, shimmer, and provoke. By the time visitors reach the final rooms, the exhibition has built a portrait of a designer and an era shaped by ex‑ cess, beauty, rebellion, and the belief that fashion could be a form of cultural expression as potent as painting or mu‑ sic. Versace’s world was one where glamour was a language, sensuality a statement, and the baroque not a historical ref‑ erence but a living, breathing force. The Gianni Versace Retrospective at the Musée Maillol is a resurrection of the creative fire that made Versace a singu‑ lar figure in fashion history. His declaration, “You’ll find me in my work”, echoes through every room. And indeed, he is there: in the prints, in the silhouettes, in the images, and in the energy that refuses to fade. Paris becomes the stage once more, and Versace, even decades after his final bow, commands it with undiminished brilliance. Musée Maillol 59-61 rue de Grenelle 75007 Paris, France gianniversaceretrospective.fr Images courtesy of Pierre Laporte Communication Gianni Versace Retrospective © Dreamrealizer