sakislalas: “Meet the Hollywood Costume Designers” shooting time…this time with the fabulous Lou Eyrich, the Costume Designer of the tv series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”
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How to Make a Versace Miniseries Without Help from Versace
Re-creating the world of slain designer Gianni Versace for FX’s new season of American Crime Story was a unique challenge—especially without the support of the headlining brand itself. Costume designer Lou Eyrich had only five weeks and a limited budget to collect as many authentic 90s Versace pieces as she could for the nine-episode series—which tells the story of both Gianni’s killer and the designer’s decadent final days. Several episodes also flash back to milestone moments during his and his sister Donatella’s ascent, as they became the sexy couturiers of Madonna, Elton John, Courtney Love, and more.
“There were days when there were one, two, three, four, five of us from the costume department just sitting at computers on eBay and Etsy and First Dibs, calling high-end vintage stores across the states, just trying to locate whatever Versace we could get our hands on,” says Eyrich. “We were collecting at breakneck speed.”
For the pieces that were unavailable or simply too expensive for the American Crime Story budget—like the sensational gold-studded black-leather gown Donatella actually wore to the 1996 Met Ball—Eyrich had to get creative, speedily producing outfits that were both respectful of and representative of the luxury brand’s designs, yet different enough from the originals that their production was legal.
“We tried to re-create the Met Ball dress as closely as we could,” says Eyrich of the gown, which features prominently into Donatella’s character arc. “All of the hardware is cast in gold. The hardest part was finding the leather that would drape similarly. And then we had to find the actual Versace boots and belt that she wore with the dress, which we were able to find in Miami.”
Another scene that necessitated scoring real Versace designs was the house’s July 1996 fashion show, which on the series features six models wearing Gianni’s designs and six models wearing Donatella’s designs. At the time, brother and sister Versace had different tastes, in both fashion and models, which was evident to anyone in the audience.
“We watched and watched and watched and watched footage of that fashion show over and over,” says Eyrich, who narrowed the actual collection down to 12 representative looks. “We carefully chose which we were going to re-create … Gianni had a more colorful look, so the creams and the pinks and the yellows and the reds were Gianni. Donatella’s models, meanwhile, were more waif, heroin-chic models who wear all black and had the heavy eye makeup. It was important to show the difference between the designers’ visions at the time.”
Speaking about the challenge of approximating these designs legally, Eyrich explains: “We tried to follow their silhouette, so that our costumes would come off looking similar, but not exact. So we changed little details… . We also wanted to make sure that we wouldn’t offend Versace in any way… . We didn’t want to make the designs look cheap, or made for TV. We really wanted to show the couture aspect of the House of Versace and live up to the designer’s name—the way everything moved so beautifully on the runway. For us, it was about both choosing the right fabrics and making sure that the models had the right gait—the model casting was very important to that scene.”
Penélope Cruz, who stars as Donatella, was also concerned with being respectful of the brand and the designer—whom she counts as a friend. “Penelope wears a lot of Versace to events and had a lot of input, simply because she was very invested in the character and sensitive to portraying Donatella in a truthful and special light,” Eyrich says.
While paging through scenes with Eyrich, the actress told her costumer that she was partial to a 90s Versace collection with a black-leather western motif—with studded pants, leather cuffs, gold top stitching and buttons, and fringe. Eyrich, who was prepared to have someone construct an ensemble from scratch, ended up lucking out by finding a vintage Versace top with fringe in Cruz’s exact size in downtown Los Angeles.
While working on past projects, Eyrich says that she has pulled Versace designs for characters and moments that were “flashy, body-conscious, and fashion-forward.” Working up close and personal with so much Versace on this particular project, however, gave her a new appreciation for the fashion house—one she hopes audience members will also walk away with. “Seeing all the pieces in hand and the detailed couture work, like the drapes, I actually fell in love with the brand and what they created. I’m in awe of what they created and Donatella’s cleverness. I found a whole new love for the brand of Versace by the end of the show.”
You’ll Never Guess Where the Versace Costumes in the Crime Story About Gianni’s Death Are Really From
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is easily one of the most anticipated TV shows of 2018—and for good reason. After all, the first installment of the true crime-based anthology series, The People v. O.J. Simpson, swept the Emmys with a whopping nine wins last year. Now, the latest brainchild from creator Ryan Murphy is finally here. Season two of the FX series, which premieres Jan. 17 at 10 p.m., explores the 1997 murder of designer Gianni Versace that shook the fashion world. Edgar Ramirez brings the founder of the Italian fashion house to life onscreen, while Penélope Cruz nails the part of his sister and ultimate successor, Donatella Versace. The show also stars Ricky Martin as Gianni’s scene-stealing lover, Antonio D’Amico. But hands down, the most powerful performance is delivered by Darren Criss, whose downright bone-chilling portrayal of serial killer Andrew Cunanan will be hard for viewers to forget.
The all-star cast is alluring, but impossible to overlook are the costumes they wear. It’s rare for a crime series to be so deeply rooted in fashion. On top of that, the fashion house was decidedly uninvolved with the project, so costume designers Lou Eyrich and Allison Leach had to get creative, turning to resellers online to buy real Versace items from past collections.
For specific looks that played pivotal roles in the show, though—like the black leather bondage dress that Donatella wore on a red carpet in 1993, signaling a new era for the label and establishing herself as a creative force behind the scenes—they had to start from scratch. “We knew we were going to be recreating actual Versace garments, so we did research at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising here in L.A.,” said Leach. “They have one of the largest Versace collections in the country. In this case, it was researching not only photos and videos and magazines but actually looking at the real clothes and their construction and then recreating that.“
The wardrobe was so expansive that during filming, it was stored in multiple Miami warehouses filled with everything from law enforcement uniforms and college student ensembles specific to each city Cunanan’s killing spree hit. And then there are the looks we see inside the Versace mansion that capture the label’s key ‘90s trends. “Leather played a big part, and so did hardware—the stud-work, the collar tips, and the medusa details,” said Leach. “Gianni is also so famous for his prints. Even a person who doesn’t know much about fashion can still recognize an iconic rococo-pattern Versace shirt inspired by his life growing up in Calabria, Italy. There’s a sense of grandeur to his designs that is very aspirational.”
Scroll down for our full chat with the costume designers, and tune into the premiere of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace on Wednesday, January 17 at 10 p.m. on FX.
Without access to Versace’s archives, how many actual pieces were you able to find and use for the show?
Lou Eyrich: I’d say half of Penélope’s closet was real.
Allison Leach: The Versace collections are skyrocketing right now on eBayand 1stdibs. The prices are out of control—everything online is in the thousands. And when you have so many clothes to do, you can’t be spending $3,000 on one piece. We were able to use more Versace menswear, like the actual printed shirts and a lot of original jeans and shoes.Penélope Cruz as Donatella Versace is an epic match. What was it like to help transform her for the role?
LE: Penélope herself was very exact in what she wanted to portray with Donatella. The silhouettes are so important—it was all about the corsets and showing off a tiny waist. The clothes are very body-forming—there’s a lot of body-con.
AL: She also really wanted to project the gravitas of the situation, so she did wear a lot of black, which Donatella did. So then the silhouette becomes even more important, and the details, like the perfect Versace belt. Those details really sell it. Penélope likes to wear Versace in her own life and has tremendous respect for the brand, so whenever we’d find some gem, she would get so excited and say, “Can I keep this?!”Was there one piece that was absolutely crucial to the series?
LE: I would say the pink robe that Gianni wears in the beginning. It wasn’t actually a Versace piece and we never saw him in anything like it, but it was Ryan Murphy’s vision of him flowing through the casa in Miami in this beautiful pink and gold robe—the opulence of it and the way that it popped throughout the stonewashed white walls of the casa. I think that was our number one mandate from Ryan Murphy was to create this pink robe.
AL: He wanted to capture the sizzle and flow of Miami and have those pops of color that really put us there in the ‘90s.Which look was your biggest challenge to create?
LE: I would say the bondage dress that our tailor had to create.
AL: It’s such an intricate garment, and to get it to fit the way it does was probably the biggest construction challenge. We had to have three of them made, including one to cut [on-camera].Any favorite pieces that didn’t make it into the series?
LE: There was a lace dress that our tailor recreated that was really gorgeous on Penélope, the pink safety pin dress [that Penélope wears on the cover of Entertainment Weekly], and a pair of studded pants from the Western collection, but nobody gets to see those.
AL: There are more than 1000 studs on those pants! We’re still weeping.Of the Versace items that you bought online, what was the biggest score you landed from a past collection?
AL: I remember a day we were crying with joy because we found a black leather fringed shirt for Penélope. It was from the exact year of the Miss S&M bondage period [fall 1992].
LE: Oh, yeah! There were tears that day—and now we have different kind of tears, because that also hit the cutting room floor.In one episode, we see Donatella and Gianni each styling their own runway models in a sibling fashion face-off. What was it like to recreate that fashion show?
LE: Part of the storyline was Gianni and Donatella fighting, because it was back when all the really thin waif models were coming in. But Gianni wanted his models to have a life about them and have a healthy-looking figure. They were fighting between those looks, and we had 12 models, so we divided them up: 6 to look like Gianni’s models, 6 like Donatella’s.
AL: That fashion show very much represented the turning point in fashion from these happy supermodels with smiles on their faces and swagger in the hips to this more of a waif look. From a creative standpoint, we wanted to show that there was a difference between the Gianni models and the Donatella models. So there were instances of razor sharp black suits and dresses and then also the more colorful pieces and crystal mesh, which Gianni was famous for.What was it like to work with Ricky Martin? Was he super involved in choosing his looks?
LE: We’re all in love with Ricky! He was pretty much like, “I’m the palette. Just use me.” He didn’t really have an opinion—he loved looking at the research and trying on clothes, but he was like, “You guys are the masters—do your work.”
AL: I’m just glad he got to wear a swimsuit, because he’s got an amazing physique and it looks good in everything. His clothes were a little more body-conscious.Crime series aren’t usually so fashion-focused. How did the plot affect your process?
AL: It makes it challenging because when there’s murder involved, you need blood multiples [multiple versions of the same looks that will become blood stained]. There was also an undertone of how devastating this story was. That informed choices not just about how the clothes looked but how they felt. We tried to convey the tone.
‘American Crime Story’ Designer on Quickly Duplicating Gianni Versace’s Nineties Style
Accurately re-creating the lavish and vibrant wardrobe of Gianni Versace was one of the most crucial elements of Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” which premieres Jan. 17 on FX.
For the nine-part series, which shows the time leading up to Versace’s tragic 1997 shooting by serial killer Andrew Cunanan, Murphy enlisted the talent of costume designer Lou Eyrich, who admits that duplicating the late Italian’s craftsmanship and design within a limited time frame posed a laundry list of challenges.
“It’s very hard to find authentic Versace pieces [from the early to mid-Nineties],” explains Eyrich on the phone from Los Angeles. “We tried to produce clothing of that couture quality, but the most daunting part was that we only had a matter of days [to do it].”
Filming for the series took place over several months last year in both Los Angeles and on-location at the late designer’s Miami home (where the fatal shooting took place), but according to an official statement released by the Versace family last week, the series is being characterized as “a work of fiction.” Murphy based the series on a 1999 book by Maureen Orth titled “Vulgar Favors,” which the family asserts is “full of gossip and speculation.”
Veracity of the storyline notwithstanding, Eyrich along with a team that included tailor Joanne Mills and designer Michael Costello, worked tirelessly to capture the colorful world of Gianni Versace, played by Édgar Ramírez, without actually having cooperation or guidance from the Milan-based company.
“I totally had the ‘I’m not worthy’ feeling,” explains Eyrich when hired by Murphy, the director with whom she also collaborated with for “American Horror Story,” “Feud” and “Glee.” “It’s especially daunting to me because I don’t really know that world of high fashion and couture, but because it’s a story that is a historical moment, I [thought] I could do my research and create this story.”
The on-screen narrative will show Versace’s opulent lifestyle in tandem with that of the serial killer, played by Darren Criss, who committed at least four additional murders over three months leading up to Versace’s July 1997 attack. “There are two different worlds going on,” she adds. “It’s very interesting working on costumes for these two parallels that are opposites, actually.”
The Minnesota-born Eyrich scoured online retailers and vintage shops for original pieces from the design house and for the Donatella Versace character, played by Penélope Cruz, created a reimagined facsimile of one of the brand’s iconic safety-pin dresses, which made its debut on the runway in the fall of 1993.
“We searched and searched and searched and finally found a belt with 18 of the safety pins from that famous collection,” recalls Eyrich. “But they were silver and we wanted gold.”
In order to achieve the look, the designer and her team “mutilated” the belt and had each safety-pin gold-plated — all within a matter of hours. Where the real-life Versace would take months in his atelier to create a couture gown, Eyrich and Mills would have only a matter of days. In fact, the process was so quick that the wardrobe team never actually made costume sketches. “If you look closely, then you shutter,” reveals Eyrich. “But for TV, it works — although in the world of HD and huge screens, it’s a little more daunting.”
The three-time Emmy Award winner says she would “stay awake at night trying to figure out how to create that Versace world” in a way that would be respectful to the brand’s integrity. “We just didn’t have the time frame to come up with all the details and that sometimes frustrates me.”
But it was paying respect to the brand’s eponymous founder that was of top importance to Eyrich and her colleagues on-set. “It was very eerie,” she explains. “Many of us were choked up being [at the murder location] with that feeling of needless loss. Everybody had moments of reflection.”
‘American Crime Story’ Designer on Quickly Duplicating Gianni Versace’s Nineties Style
The ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ Features Authentic Vintage Versace
“I had the utmost respect and dedication to making sure we showed anything Versace in the best light,” says costume designer Lou Eyrich.
Much like how Ryan Murphy’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” was a exploration of racism, sexism and the 24-hour news cycle, the followup “Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” series is another timely social commentary deep dive set in the ‘90s. The second (or technically third) anthology installment explores how homophobia and society’s attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community ultimately led to the legendary fashion designer’s tragic murder on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion on July 15, 1997.
With Gianni Versace (played by Edgar Ramirez) and his sister and current Vice President of the fashion house, Donatella (Penelope Cruz) being the anchor of the show, fashion — bold, iconic, famously flashy fashion — plays an integral part in the series. But, in anticipation of the January 17 premiere on FX, the Versace family condemned the series as an unauthorized “work of fiction” and attacked the book it’s based on, “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History” by Maureen Orth, as a “distorted and bogus version” of the designer’s story.
The Executive Producer tried to assuage the family at a Variety panel, per Business of Fashion, saying that the series will “treat [Donatella] and her family with respect and kindness.” Costume designer and longtime Murphy collaborator Lou Eyrich also took special care to honor the family and the brand through the wardrobe.
“We didn’t get to work with the House of Versace at all,” she says, over the phone from Los Angeles, before the family issued statements. “I happen to be a lover of Versace, so I had the utmost respect and dedication to making sure we showed anything Versace in the best light.”
Eyrich personally remembers the media coverage surrounding Gianni’s tragic murder and ensuing manhunt for serial killer Andrew Cunanan at the time. To precisely research, she found a wealth of footage on YouTube, like “Dateline” and “48 Hours” segments, as well as old copies of magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair, which featured stories about the murder. “Of course, I studied his last couple of runway collections from ’96 and ’97,” she adds.
Eyrich was also able to include authentic vintage ’90s Versace pieces, especially for Cruz as Donatella, which were intensively sourced online from high-end resellers and shopped in-store at The Way We Wore in Los Angeles and the famed C Madeleine’s boutique in North Miami Beach. “They had a lot of the original Versace stuff; we were able to get the super high-waisted equestrian leggings, the boots with the Medusa heads on them, a lot of good jewelry and purses and leather coats,” the three-time Emmy winner for her work on “American Horror Story” says. “We got a lot there.”
When Cruz first appears on the show, she wears a vintage Versace-esque, but not Versace-label leather jacket and trousers set, but her belt, boots and bag are authentic pieces from the fashion house (above). The non-linear timeline of the series also jumps back to the early ’90s, allowing for moments of exposition that include notable milestones for the House of Versace — and requiring even more authentic vintage finds.
“We had a scene set in the early 1990s that was supposed to show the audacity and sex appeal of the Versace brand. We studied the imagery of the famous [Fall ’92] Miss S&M collection and were drooling over all the leather, fringe and Western detailing,” co-designer Allyson Leach tells Fashionista over email. “At the last minute, we found the ultimate black leather western shirt for Penelope, complete with fringe, gold collar tips andthe original Versace label at New/Found vintage in LA. We paired it with a pair of custom gold studded jeans that we had recreated based on the same collection. Penelope, Lou and I were all dying over that look.” (Below.)
However, some “Versace” looks needed to be meticulously custom-built, like Cruz’s hot pink and signature gold safety-pin detailed gown (above) and he white lace-up bustier dress (below)— but not too exactly copied for legal reasons. “If it was real Versace, obviously [the piece] could say ‘Versace’ and have the Medusa,” Eyrich says. “But if we were making anything, we were careful not to replicate their logo.”
Fashion nerds will likely lose their minds over a near-exact reproduction of Gianni’s last Versace haute couture show for Fall 1997, which in real life was held at the Ritz Paris, but, on the series, Miami. The louche metallic mini-dress and menswear-inspired aesthetic, the styling (the wide black headbands!) and the model casting — a fake Naomi Campbell as the bride and a faux Erin O’Connor — are spot-on, but the re-created runway looks intentionally are not.
“We did our best to replicate it without exactly copying, of course, but we just wanted to make sure it was represented in a couture way to honor Versace,” says Eyrich, about the hand-sewn and custom built pieces for the show. The scene hits especially hard following Donatella’s heartfelt tribute to her late brother in September with the Versace Spring 2018 runway show, complete with the ’97-referential slinky gold gowns — worn by the real Campbell and the original supermodels.
While the Versaces and Gianni’s longtime boyfriend Antonio D’Amico (Ricky Martin) are represented through high fashion, Cunanan (played by “Glee”’s Darren Criss like you’ve never seen before) and his backstory are deftly communicated through wardrobe — but in a much different way. Not much documentation of Cunanan existed prior to his violent killing spree, so Eyrich worked with the knowledge that the he was skilled at changing his appearance depending on his con or situation.
In the first episode alone, Cunanan exhibits a chameleon-like range of personas, changing from a preppy corduroy jacket and cravat with khakis to a leather bomber jacket and loud printed shirt when he reportedly, per Orth’s book, first encounters Gianni at a San Francisco nightclub to denim cut-offs and a ratty muscle shirt when he’s openly on the run in Miami.
“He was all about status, but he personally didn’t have any status, so he was always dressing and acting the part,” explains Eyrich. “But as his life started falling apart, we started showing that through his clothes.” As he continues his killing spree across the country, the costumes reflect Cunanan’s desperation and decline. “He was either [wearing] what was in his backpack or what he could steal or get at some thrift store. And things weren’t fitting him very well. His appearance really went downhill.”
The sun, palm tree and saturated color-drenched backdrop of ’90s Miami is also evocative of the era and the intensity of the story. Eyrich wanted to “show that vibrant beat of Miami” through bright “Miami Vice”-reminiscent hues and beachwear. Cunanan essentially roamed the South Beach boardwalks and sweaty nightclubs for two months — despite being on the FBI’s Most Wanted list — which required outfitting supporting players, like a near-unrecognizable (even to his kids) Max Greenfield as addict Ronnie in thoughtfully selected acid washed denim cut-offs, plus lots of extras in skimpy swimwear on the beach.
“That’s all Ryan,” says Eyrich. “The older men in their hot pink Speedos, that was his personal request.” For the party scenes, she especially relied on a crew member who came to set with first-hand knowledge. “Luckily one of our fabulous costumers, who grew up there, had a ton of actual photos from when he worked for MTV — these stunning photos of nightclubs — and we were able to lift that research,” she adds.
The ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ Features Authentic Vintage Versace
Costumes help tell the story in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”
In the pantheon of 1990s fashion, the name Versace rises above all others when it comes to a kind of baroque sexiness and celebrity flash that ran counter to the grunge and minimalism trends of the decade. There was a joy in the bold patterns, gold Medusa emblems and barely there dresses Gianni Versace dressed celebrities like Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow in and featured on supermodels including Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford. That joy was snuffed out tragically on the steps of Versace’s Miami villa on July 17, 1997, when hustler-turned-spree-killer Andrew Cunanan fatally shot the designer.
“American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace” (debuting Wednesday, Jan. 17 on FX) tells the story of Cunanan’s deadly rampage that eventually brought him to Versace’s doorstep. Chronicle television critic David Wiegand had much praise for the series’ storytelling. Style viewed the first eight episodes of the limited series with an eye toward whether show-runner Ryan Murphy and his longtime costume designer, Lou Eyrich, got the era’s fashion story correct.
Early in the series, we see a re-creation of one of Versace’s runway shows and peek behind the scenes at Gianni (Édgar Ramírez ) putting the finishing touches on a collection with his sister Donatella (Penelope Cruz). Instantly, the liquid-gold excess of the Versace heyday is illustrated, with Gianni telling his sister that he wants to create “happy” clothes, not the moody collections coming into vogue via rising fashion stars Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Knowing what’s coming, the exuberance of his collections is that much more haunting.
In a later episode, we get an even more intimate look at the creative partnership between the siblings as they collaborate on a dress to be worn by Donatella to a party celebrating the 100th anniversary of Vogue in 1993. The result is a re-creation of the actual black leather-strapped, luxe-bondage gown that caused a red carpet sensation in the press, akin to what Gianni’s gold safety-pinned, side-slit gown for model Elizabeth Hurley did a year later at the “Four Weddings and a Funeral” premiere. It was Donatella’s black leather debutante gown of a sort, symbolic of a kind of creative coming out. This Versace-land rings period-true, from the clinging, chain-printed Speedos worn by Gianni’s live-boyfriend, Antonio, to the crisp uniforms worn by the villa manservants. The bright Miami and Milanese sun that infuses these scenes makes the Versace floral prints and shining hardware pop even more, especially compared to the (metaphorical) darkness in Andrew Cunanan’s (Darren Criss) world.
Criss’ transformation from affable “Glee” singer to sadistic con artist in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” is helped considerably by Eyrich’s costuming, which sees him transform from prep school uniform and mall basics to “American Gigolo” boxy suiting, as well as the ever-present wire-rim glasses that were seen on a thousand wanted posters. In re-establishing the worlds each season in Murphy’s three anthology series, Eyrich’s work has been essential, whether it’s the ever-evolving gothic motifs of Murphy’s “American Horror Story” or the fading Hollywood glamour of 2018’s “Feud: Bette and Joan.”
She doesn’t just get the big picture right; she uses clothes to further the story. Eyrich’s attention to Cunanan’s status-seeking menswear, whether it’s a pair of Ferragamo loafers or a Rolex watch he uses to entice a potential romantic partner/victim, drives the narrative. Cunanan’s pretending and social climbing would not have the same believability if it weren’t for the way he used his charm, good looks and ability to dress the part to ease his way into his victims’ worlds. Eyrich’s wardrobe concepts are frequently more than re-creation, they’re world-specific interpretations that use both exaggeration and restraint to drive the narrative. The soft decorator earth tones worn by the older, affluent gay men that Cunanan sees as potential prey perfectly capture that subset in the same way the fleeting glance at ’90s club fashion encapsulates Miami’s gay scene.
Eyrich and Murphy’s work together over the years has become so well-regarded that in 2017 the Paley Center in Beverly Hills celebrated their collaborations on “American Horror Story” with a special exhibition, “The Style of Scare.” Although the scares are more of the suspense variety and less supernatural in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” Eyrich’s costumes are essential in keeping the tension in the series as taut as one of Versace’s signature little dresses.
Costumes help tell the story in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”
The real story behind the best ‘Versace’ looks
When the cast and crew of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” attempted to recreate the life and fashion sensibility of the murdered Italian designer, immersing themselves in his flamboyant aesthetic was key to telling the story well.
So they set out to showcase his dramatic world with both setting and costume: Producer Ryan Murphy obtained permission to film the series, which debuts Wednesday on FX, inside Versace’s former home, Casa Casuarina in Miami, where the rooms are decorated with bold tile, frescoes and seashells. And actor Edgar Ramirez, who plays the doomed designer, embraced Versace’s creative vantage point, which was heavily influenced by classical motifs.
“He had a poster of the Roman empire in his shop in Calabria, [Italy,]” Ramirez said at a recent panel discussion of the series. “When we think about the Roman Empire, we tend to think about washed-out statues . . . But the reality is that the Roman Empire was very colorful. The blues were very intense and the gold was intense.”
Recreating Versace’s outlandish designs for the series became a painstaking project for Emmy-winning costume designer Lou Eyrich, who not only tracked down genuine vintage pieces, but created looks for the show without any cooperation from Gianni’s sister (and current artistic director of the brand), Donatella Versace, or the Versace company itself — which has denounced the entire production as a “work of fiction.”
“Gianni Versace was fearless and bold in his use of color. He understood the female physique and how to make a woman feel and look sexy,” says Eyrich, who has also designed the costumes for “American Horror Story.”
Versace was also fond of using mixed media in his designs. For example, a Greek key pattern seen on the border of the iron gates to his villa appears in his clothing for men. “The more you look [at his creations], the more you see [those motifs],” says Eyrich.
Since his death at age 50 in 1997, many of Versace’s pieces have been scooped up and preserved by collectors. Eyrich had to scour the Internet to outfit not only Ramirez, but Penélope Cruz, who plays Donatella, and Ricky Martin, who plays Antonio D’Amico, Versace’s domestic partner of 15 years.
Many pricey items were out of reach for Eyrich and her team: At stores such as the Way We Wore in LA, the asking price for a Versace shirt from the era is a hefty $1,500, and an animal-and-baroque-print skirt suit goes for $4,500.
“We didn’t have the budget to get the pieces we really wanted. We ordered a lot online,” Eyrich says. “We were competing with a lot of serious collectors.”
Of all the actors in the show, Ramirez was the one Eyrich was able to provide with the most authentic duds. “Almost all of Edgar’s costumes were Versace,” she says. “We sourced the jeans, the shoes and the shirts [from vintage shops]— which I’m sure he loved.”
One exception is a shocking-pink bathrobe Versace wears to breakfast at his Miami villa on the morning he’s murdered by Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss). Eyrich had this made to Murphy’s specifications — she says the producer requested something with some “float” in it, so she used an especially lightweight silk. “When Edgar walked, it billowed,” Eyrich says.
Eyrich relied on her “genius tailor” Joanne Mills to remake a dress Versace designed for his sister — a sexy, black leather number accentuated with a series of men’s leather belts linking the bodice to a choker.
“We got every photo we could of [the original] dress,” Eyrich says of the frock that Donatella wore to a party at the New York Public Library celebrating Vogue’s centennial in 1993. “We were very careful to show our utmost respect; I didn’t want to make it look like a made-for-TV movie [design]. I want to pay tribute but not ever minimize. Joanne recreated all the hardware — the belt buckle — and made the full-leather skirt.”
Eyrich and her team also created a whopping 17 looks for a pivotal scene at Versace’s final haute couture fashion show in Paris in 1997, which plays out, in flashback, in the second episode, which airs Jan. 24. Donatella argues with her brother about the direction of their company and needles him about not being able to keep up with younger designers John Galliano and Alexander McQueen.
“You were the future, once,” she says snidely. Ever defiant, Versace tells his younger sister that great design comes “from the heart.” He reduces her to tears of shame with a runway show that unveils one inspired creation after another: A sleek, white evening gown slit up the side, a glittering red minidress and the pièce de résistance — a metallic mesh mini “wedding dress” covered with crosses, worn with a silver-headband veil. The daring piece is for the “Versace bride,” Gianni declares, not a “virginal” one.
“He had this rock ’n’ roll approach to couture,” Ramirez has said. “At this level, in high fashion, he mixed sexuality and glamour, something that, until he came along, were on two different tracks.”
‘American Crime Story’ Costume Designer on Creating Versace Wardrobe Without Help From Versace
One of the most hotly anticipated TV projects of the new year, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story comes to FX Jan. 17. Ryan Murphy’s series tells the story of serial killer Andrew Cunanan’s cross-country killing rampage, which culminated in his murder of Italian fashion designer Versace on the steps of his Miami villa on July 15, 1997, and offers a window into the gilded lifestyle brand he created, which at the time of his death counted Princess Diana, Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley as fans.
Costume designer Lou Eyrich (who also worked on Murphy’s Feud: Bette and Joan) was charged with creating ‘90s-era Miami “heat and sizzle,” as she calls it, including rococo-style Medusa head print shirts and loungewear for Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez) and hand-studded leather jackets, skin-tight jodhpur leggings and vibrant silk gowns for sister Donatella (Penelope Cruz), who took over the business after his death.
And she had to do it without any help from the actual fashion house of Versace, which is not involved in the project.
Instead, Eyrich and her team bought up hundreds of pieces of vintage Versace from dealers around the world, including The Way We Wore and Catwalk in Los Angeles and C Madeleinesin Miami. “I think we drove the prices up,” she says, adding, “We were on the Internet 12 hours a day.”
“Miami was party city in the ‘90s. It was very bodycon dresses, tank tops, short shorts and heels, hot pastels, and a lot of skin on the boys as well as the girls,” says Eyrich.
What she couldn’t find or afford (the original Versace chainmail gowns, for example, were too expensive), she recreated. “We were cautious to make it look as amazing as it could to honor the house of Versace and Donatella, so we tried to use the best silk, and when we used safety pins as a decorative element, we had them plated in gold,” says Eyrich, explaining that Cruz is friends with Donatella Versace, and has worn many of her designs, so it was very important to her to be respectful.
For a pink silk, curve-hugging evening dress, for example, “we collaborated with Penelope on the design. We wanted her to look uber-sexy, so it’s corseted and skin-baring. We were inspired by a Versace design from 1996, but it’s not an exact replica because we didn’t want to rip them off. First of all, that’s not legal, but also we didn’t want to insult them.”
Gianni’s wardrobe is resplendent with print pajamas and loungewear, which he wore around his mansion, Casa Casuarina, where the crew was able to film. “Ryan said make a pink bathrobe, so we did,” says Eyrich, adding that the director was very specific about how he wanted the designer to walk through the halls of his home, trailing flowing silk behind him.
“Ryan is such a visual person, he wanted to show the opulent world of the Versace estate in opposition to Andrew Cunanan’s upbringing,” explains Eyrich, who describes Cunanan as a gigolo and his style as “West Coast preppy aspiring to look rich.”
There’s even a scene of the designer’s final fashion show in 1997, for which Eyrich painstakingly recreated 17 looks that came down the catwalk. “How he cut for women was just exquisite,” she says, adding that just as they were wrapping production in September, Donatella staged her own supermodel-studded 20th anniversary tribute to her brother’s style during Milan Fashion Week, paying homage to many of the original design codes of the house, including color, print and yes, chainmail. “We said, ‘Oh my god!’ How perfect.”
‘American Crime Story’ Costume Designer on Creating Versace Wardrobe Without Help From Versace
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