Versace. What do you think of first when you hear that word? Liz Hurley bursting out of her black safety-pinned guna, that the British media instantly christened that dress? A Medusa's head, the company's logo? Or the memory of Gianni Versace's murder in 1997, on the doorstep of his wildly ostentatious Miami home?
Even if fashion means nothing to you, and you do not own nor ever want to own a Versace piece, most people will remember the designer died an ugly and untimely death. The photograph of Diana, Princess of Wales - his most high-profile customer - comforting Elton John at Versace's funeral is destined to be forever reprinted and to raise a frisson every time it is. Diana was herself dead a month later.
The world of haute couture is not generally regarded as a business that carries high personal risk. Naomi Campbell once overbalanced on too-high platforms, and somebody somewhere must have fallen off the catwalk after too much champagne, but that's about as risky as it gets. Usually, the biggest enemies fashion designers have are themselves, with their associated glitzy lifestyle - lots of international air-travel, fast cars, and cocaine.
Gianni Versace was murdered outside his home by 27-year-old Andrew Cunahan on July 15th, 1997. He was shot twice and died at the scene. Fashion Victim: The Killing of Gianni Versace, part of the True Lives series on RTE1, takes a decidedly voyeuristic approach to the subject. The documentary was made by Little Bird, and directed by James Kent.
Versace was gay, which seems to have been a contributing factor in his death. At the time, there was all sorts of speculation about whether he had AIDS when he died. Perhaps he had been killed by someone to whom he had transmitted the virus? Was there a Mafia connection? Was there a homophobic serial killer on the loose? Conspiracy theories whistled up and down the wires for days, and get aired again here.
Andrew Cunahan's name emerged like a bad smell that could not be ignored. His name was linked as a suspect with four other murders earlier that year. There was a massive manhunt across the States for days. Then he was discovered dead in a houseboat, having committed suicide, and people were left to speculate as to what had turned him into a serial killer: that year, he had killed former lovers and their new partners.
Money and power always bring their share of parasites. It is possible Cunahan, described as a high-class male prostitute with a predilection for wealthy lovers, at one time met Versace. Whether the level of their contact was as fleeting as a handshake in a night-club, or something more intimate, the documentary cannot answer. But wherever they met, Cunahan remembered him, and deliberately sought him out as a victim, with the illogical logic of a serial killer.
This documentary could have taken a hard look at the brittle bauble that is the world of couture, but it misses its opportunity, focusing instead on the sensational elements of the Versace case. For instance, do we really need to know, in graphic and most distasteful detail, the method Cunahan used to murder one of his victims?
Versace emerges as an egomaniac who really did think clothes made the world go round - his clothes. One comment in the documentary goes: "Versace thought if he could turn supermodels into goddesses, he'd become the emperor of fashion." Celebrity is often cited as being the new royalty, and it's probably no coincidence Versace often referred to his "empire", and says to camera in an archive clip: "I feel like a Medici". He may have had a high opinion of himself, but some fellow designers did not. Alexander McQueen states that his clothes were "the Dynasty of the fashion world. Gold and glitz". They apparently sold best in Asia and Latin American as status symbols. "Clothes for the nouveaux riches" was another brickbat. "Versace was the Lotto and Andrew Cunahan won the Lotto," was the verdict. "In 25 years time, people will remember his name when they think of Versace."
That is, if they remember Versace.
Fashion Victim: The Killing of Gianni Versace will be shown on RTE 1 on Monday at 9.30 p.m.
