Raise your hand if your Saturday plans consisted of a viewing party for the ‘House of Versace‘ premiere on Lifetime mixed with some Miley on SNL. Despite the news of Hannah Montana’s untimely passing, I’ll chalk it up as a win for Saturday night programming.
A little history lesson: Back in 1997, Gianni Versace – Italian fashion designer – was brutally murdered in front of his Miami home. This was a huge hit for the fashion industry as many viewed Gianni as the ultimate creative mastermind behind the line. I mean, he made trash couture red carpet appropriate (S&M, bondage – SO Fifty Shades). Versace prides itself on dressing the mistress, and Gianni achieved the unthinkable by making the disrespectful elegant, desirable, and beautiful. Sex was always part of the equation and he made no apologies.
Enter Donatella Versace – a chain smoking diva famous for never wearing flats and treating every outfit as a performance (as it should be). After her brother’s murder, Donatella took charge of the label as Creative Director, but caved under the pressure. She turned to cocaine as a coping mechanism to deal with the stress of living in her brother’s shadow.
As we all know, this story has a happy ending. The woman who was once Gianni’s muse managed to climb her way back to the top (after a brief stint in rehab, thanks to Elton John) and establish Versace as the iconic company it is today.
Prior to the premiere, Versace released the following statement:
“Versace has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV movie about Mrs. Versace… Since Versace did not authorize the book on which it is based, the movie should only be seen as a work of fiction.“ [Huffington Post]
My guess is they didn’t tune in.
Aside from the recycled outfits (Gina Gershon, who plays Donatella, wore the same checkered pants and bag for a scene in the 90s and then again for a scene a decade later), the frumpy non-models cast for the runway show, and unnecessary montage featuring the brother/sister bond between Gianni and Donatella, Lifetime managed to hold my attention for a solid two hours with an entertaining – albeit semi-embellished – story.
Did you watch? Discuss…
All photos courtesy of Pinterest