VERSACE | Italian Fragrances at the Intersection of Mythology and Sensuality

“Do not follow trends. Do not let fashion rule you. Decide for yourself who you are and how you want to live.”

— Gianni Versace

Contents

Basic Information
The Founder and the Brand’s Origins
The Brand’s Commitments
An Interesting Aside…

Basic Information

Founded: 1978 (fragrance business launched in 1981)
Founder: Gianni Versace (Giovanni Maria Versace)
Current Chief Creative Officer: Pieter Mulier (appointed in July 2026)
Official website: https://www.versace.com

The Founder and the Brand’s Origins

The World Seen by a Child in Southern Italy

Gianni Versace was born on December 2, 1946, in Reggio Calabria, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The city is known as part of Magna Graecia, or “Greater Greece,” the territory colonized by Greeks in antiquity. Ancient ruins and traces of mythology remain everywhere. In later years, Gianni described the place in these words.

“Reggio Calabria is the kingdom where the story of my life began. It is where, as a child, I felt the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid, and began to breathe the art of Magna Graecia.”

The Greek and Roman classical heritage of his native Calabria influenced Gianni’s creative work. Gianni, his older brother Santo, and his younger sister Donatella are said to have regularly played among nearby ancient ruins as children. The Medusa head that later became the brand’s emblem is also said to have arisen from those childhood memories.

Another “school” for the young Gianni was his mother Francesca’s dressmaking workshop. She was a talented dressmaker well known locally, and her workshop had grown into something of a boutique in Reggio Calabria. Gianni grew up amid the sound of silk being cut, the vibration of sewing machines, and the rustle of taffeta, developing a deep understanding of fabrics, patterns, and artisanal craftsmanship. In a 1977 interview, he said that he had learned how to work from his mother’s haute couture business.

Leaving for Milan

Gianni studied architecture in Calabria from 1964 to 1967, then began working seriously in his mother’s atelier between 1968 and 1972. He moved to Milan in 1972 and worked as a freelance designer for three companies: Callaghan for knitwear, Genny for sportswear, and Complice for high-quality ready-to-wear.

When he sat down with an Interview magazine journalist in 1977, Gianni had become the designer with Italy’s largest womenswear business only five or six years after arriving in Milan. When the journalist called him a miracle of Italian fashion, he reportedly laughed lightly and replied:

“What do you mean, a miracle? I have a proper background. And I worked very hard.”

The Birth of Versace

In 1978, Gianni opened his first boutique on Via della Spiga in Milan and formally launched the Gianni Versace brand. From the outset, it operated as a family business. His older brother Santo handled business and finance, while his younger sister Donatella joined as a creative assistant. Gianni had summoned Donatella to his side while she was still attending university in Florence.

Gianni described his aesthetic as a fusion of classicism and sexuality: the Mediterranean sensuality he had sensed among Calabria’s ruins combined with the sophisticated craftsmanship he had honed in Milan. His designs were sometimes criticized as “vulgar” and at other times praised as revolutionary. Yet in a 1985 Vogue interview, he declared:

“I like things that are different. I like breaking barriers. I think a designer’s responsibility is to try to break rules and barriers.”

The “3G” Era and the Making of a Fashion Empire

From the 1980s into the 1990s, Gianni, Giorgio Armani, and the late Gianfranco Ferré were known as the “3G” and led the Italian fashion world. Gianni’s fashion shows were staged like rock concerts, with celebrities such as Madonna, Princess Diana, Elton John, and Tina Turner in the front row. His Autumn/Winter 1991 collection brought together Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington, among others, and is said to have helped create the “supermodel” phenomenon.

He presented his first haute couture collection in 1989. That same year, he also designed costumes for the San Francisco Opera, extending his activities beyond fashion. The business continued to expand into fragrances, accessories, and home collections, forming a truly global luxury empire by the mid-1990s.

A Tragic End

Gianni is said to have been diagnosed with a rare cancer of the inner ear in the mid-1990s. As he underwent treatment, he increasingly entrusted the business to his family. On the morning of July 15, 1997, he was shot dead by serial killer Andrew Cunanan outside his Miami Beach mansion. He was 50. Eight days later, Cunanan took his own life in the houseboat where he was hiding.

Gianni’s death was one of the greatest shocks to the fashion world in the twentieth century. From December that year through March 1998, the Costume Institute at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art held a retrospective of his work.

Donatella, the Successor

After Gianni’s death, his younger sister Donatella took over the brand’s creative direction. The industry’s initial judgment was harsh, and some reportedly dismissed her as merely her brother’s muse. Yet over approximately 27 years in the role, Donatella took the brand to new heights and established a position of her own.

In March 2025, Donatella announced that she would step down as Creative Director and become Chief Brand Ambassador. In her statement, she said:

“The greatest honor of my life has been to continue carrying on my brother Gianni’s legacy.”

She was succeeded by Dario Vitale, formerly Design and Image Director at Miu Miu. In December of the same year, Prada Group completed its acquisition of Versace. The enterprise value announced for the transaction was €1.25 billion. In the creative division, leadership by someone outside the founding family had begun for the first time in the brand’s history.

The Brand’s Commitments

A Philosophy of Fragrance Creation

A consistent philosophy in Versace’s perfumes is a direct appeal to the senses. Rather than excessive intellectualism, they project sensuality, boldness, and joy: the same qualities Gianni embodied when he said that fashion was happiness.

Since Versace sold its former in-house division, Giver Profumi, to the Italian fragrance and cosmetics manufacturer EuroItalia at the end of 2004, EuroItalia has handled fragrance planning and production as the exclusive licensee. In 2021, a further fifteen-year extension of the relationship was announced. The business has continued to grow into one of the world’s largest designer luxury fragrance operations.

Its perfumer collaborations include leading noses such as Alberto Morillas (Bright Crystal, Dylan Blue Pour Homme, and others), Aurélien Guichard (Eros), Jean-Pierre Béthouart (The Dreamer), and Calice Becker (Dylan Blue Pour Femme). Particularly noteworthy is Morillas, sometimes called a “god of perfumery,” who has created several of Versace’s iconic fragrances.

Bottle and Packaging Design

Versace perfume bottles share a visual language with its fashion collections. Almost every bottle bears the Medusa emblem, with Baroque lettering and sculptural decoration.

The Crystal collection establishes individual identities within a shared jewel-like palette and silhouette: Crystal Noir has black glass and a large faceted cap, Bright Crystal is pink, and Yellow Diamond is yellow. The turquoise Eros bottle visually pays homage to the Mediterranean and Greco-Roman culture. Dylan Turquoise continues Versace’s design codes with frosted blue glass, a pale-gold aluminum cap, and a Baroque-inspired Medusa engraving.

The Fascination with Medusa

Why Medusa? Rather than focusing on the tale of a Greek mythological monster who turned onlookers to stone, Gianni was drawn to her overwhelming beauty and allure. “Once your eyes meet hers, you cannot turn away”: that was a metaphor for the customer experience Versace desired. He retained the memory of seeing Medusa imagery among ancient ruins in Calabria as a child and later adopted her as his own symbol. His Miami mansion’s pool is also said to have featured a Medusa mosaic based on traditional depictions in ancient Roman and Greek art.

Another icon, the Greek key or meander, became part of the brand’s DNA after first appearing in the Autumn/Winter 1988 collection.

The Fragrance Range

Versace’s fragrances include Crystal, inspired by the colors and brilliance of gemstones; Eros, named for the Greek god of love; Dylan, reflecting Mediterranean colors; and Atelier Versace, which translates haute couture craftsmanship into scent.

The Early Fragrance Business (1981–1990s)

The first fragrance was Gianni Versace (1981), a chypre with floral and aldehydic elements. The men’s Versace L’Homme followed, and V’E appeared in 1989. Created by Akiko Kamei, V’E is classified as a fruity chypre, offering a different view of the house’s early perfumery from the bright citrus and aquatic scents of later years.

The 1990s brought Blue Jeans and Red Jeans, both from 1994. Their names brought everyday denim into the fragrance range, broadening its more casual side beyond the early chypres.

The Dreamer (1996) is a men’s fragrance by Jean-Pierre Béthouart. Its recorded composition includes juniper, lily, iris, tobacco, and amber, giving flowers a place within a masculine fragrance. Later collections would make color, mythology, and the Mediterranean increasingly visible in both scent and bottle.

The Crystal Collection

The Crystal Collection shares a large, jewel-like cap, while black, pink, yellow, and green suggest different treatments of flowers and fruit. Crystal Emerald has joined Crystal Noir, Bright Crystal, and Yellow Diamond. Each has its own theme and composition, rather than being a different color of the same scent.

Introduced in 2004, Crystal Noir brings gardenia, peony, and orange blossom together with cardamom, pepper, and ginger. The eau de toilette described here wraps soft flowers in spice, amber, sandalwood, and musk. Gardenia and amber were central from its launch, with the boldly faceted cap treated as an important part of its design.

Bright Crystal (2006) was created by Alberto Morillas. This eau de toilette pairs yuzu and pomegranate with an icy accord, leading into peony, magnolia, and lotus. The accord evokes cold water or ice, adding freshness to the fruit before the softer flowers emerge. Mahogany, amber, and musk form the base.

Yellow Diamond takes its inspiration from sunlight on skin and the light of a summer evening. Citron from Diamante, pear sorbet, neroli, and bergamot give a bright opening, followed by mimosa, freesia, water lily, and orange blossom. Amberwood, palo santo, and musk support the drydown of this floral fruity woody eau de toilette. Its theme encompasses the warmth of light as well as the gemstone in its name.

Crystal Emerald (2025) is an eau de parfum inspired by the deep green of emeralds. Bergamot, peach, and pink pepper lead into a green rosebud accord, jasmine, and raspberry sorbet. The green impression of rosebuds and the fruit are layered over white musk, incense, and tonka bean. Clear glass and a large faceted cap retain the connection with its predecessors.

Parfum versions of Bright Crystal and Crystal Noir were added in 2024. Eau de toilette, eau de parfum, and parfum should be distinguished alongside the fragrance name, since descriptions and compositions can differ between versions.

The Eros Line

Eros (2012) takes its name from the Greek god of love. Its blue bottle, with Medusa and the Greca pattern, also draws on that mythological world. Donatella Versace described the intended figure as “a man who is both heroic and passionate, like a Greek God”.

Aurélien Guichard, who created the eau de toilette, explained in 2013 that he wanted to express physical strength and attraction. Cool, bright mint, Italian lemon, and green apple meet vanilla, geranium, tonka bean, and amber facets, with cedar, vetiver, and oakmoss providing a woody structure. Freshness, sweetness, and strong woods give this figure its olfactory form.

The women’s Eros Pour Femme takes on a gold bottle. Lemon blossom, jasmine, and peony are central to the eau de parfum, moving from Sicilian lemon, Calabrian bergamot, and pomegranate toward sandalwood, amber, and musk. It shares the Eros mythology but has a floral woody composition distinct from the mint and vanilla of the men’s eau de toilette.

Eros Flame, in a red bottle, explores passionate love. Italian citrus meets Madagascan black pepper and rosemary, followed by pepperwood, geranium, and rose, then woods, tonka bean, and vanilla. Cool citrus brightness contrasts with the heat of spice, while dry woods meet a sweet drydown.

Eros Energy is an eau de parfum inspired by the Mediterranean coast. Echoing its yellow bottle, bergamot, blood orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, and mandarin dominate the opening. Pink pepper and blackcurrant lead into patchouli, musk, and oakmoss, expressing the line’s force through varied citrus and green facets.

Eros Najim moves to a Middle Eastern desert at dusk. The name is associated with the Arabic word for star. Yellow mandarin, saffron, and cardamom are followed by an oud accord, cedar, and caramel. Patchouli, vetiver, incense, and tonka bean complete this parfum, in which caramel sweetness softens the strength of the woods.

The Dylan Line

Dylan Blue Pour Homme (2016) is an eau de toilette by Alberto Morillas. Bergamot, grapefruit, fig leaf, and watery notes evoke Mediterranean freshness. Papyrus, patchouli, black pepper, and ambroxan lead into musk, tonka bean, saffron, and frankincense, placing woods, spices, and incense beneath the lightness of water and citrus.

For Dylan Blue Pour Femme, Calice Becker began with a portrait of a woman. Donatella’s brief was a tribute to a woman who understands her own appeal and lives with determination. In 2018, Becker explained that she placed youthful joy in the fruity floral opening and strength in the drydown.

“The heart is an imaginary bouquet”, Becker said. Materials including Shisolia, Pétalia, and Rosyfolia helped her build flowers that express a woman’s modernity and glamour. The men’s and women’s fragrances share the Dylan Blue name, but differ in their perfumers and the way they translate a character into scent.

Dylan Turquoise (2020) was created by Sophie Labbé. “The colour turquoise was an inspiration”, she explained, connecting Versace’s vivid palette with bright citrus and fruit and the sensuality of woods and musk. This eau de toilette combines lemon, mandarin, and pink pepper with guava and floral elements.

Labbé identified Clearwood, with its woody and ambery facets, as a key to that sensuality. She described it as a material made using microbial fermentation, starting from sugar cane. The packaging used FSC-certified raw materials.

Dylan Purple (2022) is an eau de parfum that layers the fruitiness of bitter orange, bergamot, and pear with flowers suggesting purple freesia. Pomarose, Mahonial, Iso E Super, and Ambrofix are among the materials used to build its floral, fruity, and woody facets. Its curving, amphora-like bottle continues the interest in classical culture and mythology.

Dylan Blush Pink extends the range into the sweetness of marshmallow, tonka bean, and Madagascan vanilla. Its eau de parfum combines a bright opening of bergamot, fruit, and freesia with orange blossom and soft confectionery impressions, leading into musk. Dylan’s colors thus move from the water and citrus of Blue through flowers and fruit to gourmand textures.

Atelier Versace

Launched with six fragrances in 2019, Atelier Versace translates haute couture craftsmanship into scent. That year, Donatella recalled the sea, citrus, and flowers of her native southern Italy, describing Atelier fashion as made by hand and to measure. The collection sought to carry the value of time spent on embroidery and corsetry into fragrances with distinct personalities.

Five perfumers worked on the first six fragrances. Medusa-topped caps, bottles recalling twisted classical columns, and boxes with the Greca pattern reinforce the connection between clothing and scent. Donatella also emphasized that the collection’s fragrances would not be limited by gender.

Jordi Fernandez, who worked on several of the fragrances, said in 2021: “Versace didn’t set me any limits when designing the fragrances”. He explained that he could select the materials he wanted without price restrictions, giving a concrete account of the creative freedom behind the collection.

The First Six: Different Treatments of Materials

Marie Salamagne’s Cédrat de Diamante begins with Mediterranean citrus, pairing the brightness of Italian lemon and pink grapefruit with cedar and vetiver. Diamante is a town in Calabria, and Donatella has spoken of her special attachment to the citrons of her homeland.

Figue Blanche was created by Marypierre Julien. Inspired by a Mediterranean summer, it layers a white fig accord with Italian mandarin and bergamot, adding jasmine and rose petals. Familiar fruit is given a different setting through citrus and flowers.

For Éclat de Rose, Nathalie Lorson centered the composition on Moroccan centifolia roses, handpicked in the morning and processed promptly. Ambrox adds facets suggesting amber, wood, incense, tobacco, and musk, giving depth around the softness of the rose.

Lorson’s Jasmin au Soleil combines Indian jasmine picked at sunrise with French beeswax. Lemon and cedar bring brightness to the honeyed, hay-like, and tobacco-like facets of the wax. It explores both the radiance of white flowers and the soft fullness of beeswax.

Christophe Raynaud’s Santal Boisé centers on Sri Lankan sandalwood. Its milky softness and balsamic woodiness meet smoky, oud-like cypriol, gurjun resin, and saffron. Family was a theme in its creation; soft woods, smoke, and spice define the fragrance’s shape.

Fernandez’s Vanille Rouge combines Madagascan vanilla with praline, powdery musk, and rose. Flowers and musk give vanilla different facets beyond the impression of sweet confectionery.

Tea, Tobacco, Incense, and Spice

In Fleur de Maté, Olivier Cresp explored the smoky, leathery facets of maté absolute. Atlas cedar, patchouli, cypriol, cistus, and incense create a deep woody scent inspired by earth and nature. Marie Salamagne’s Tabac Impérial pairs tobacco absolute with honey from Provence, immortelle, and benzoin, connecting sweetness, aromatic richness, and woody depth.

Safran Royal adds the bitterness of wormwood to saffron, opening into leather, amber, and patchouli. Gingembre Pétillant combines red ginger from Laos and white flowers with praline and vanilla. Both center on spice, but move toward dry bitterness and sweet warmth respectively.

Encens Suprême evokes the smoke of burning incense, layering incense, coriander, cistus, and woody notes. Iris d’Élite includes orris butter and orris resinoid alongside tonka bean, vanilla, and musk. Dry woods and sparkling spice accompany its powdery iris texture.

Four Additions in 2024

Four eaux de parfum joined the collection in 2024. Patchouli Précieux combines the earthy, woody facets of patchouli with nutmeg, saffron, sandalwood, and vanilla. Rose Flamboyante adds mandarin, pink pepper, and cardamom to rose, supported by cedar, vetiver, and musk. They develop existing themes of rose and wood through different combinations of materials.

Rêve de Myrrhe opens with incense and mandarin, with iris, tuberose, vanilla, fir balsam, and cistus. Ambre Nectar is an ambery woody fragrance combining notes of caramel, cedar, and oud with vanilla, sandalwood, and benzoin. Flowers and resins, sweetness and woods extend Atelier’s range of materials beyond its first six fragrances.

An Interesting Aside…

Donatella Wears Four Fragrances at Once

In a 2018 interview with AnOther magazine, Donatella Versace revealed that she layers four fragrances at a time. Details of the combination have not been made public.

The Medusa Pool at the Miami Mansion

The outdoor pool at Gianni’s Miami Beach mansion, now open to the public as a hotel, is said to have been covered with a Medusa mosaic following traditional depictions in ancient Greek and Roman art. The image of Medusa he saw among ruins as a child was thus inscribed even in his final home.

The Connection with Morillas, a “God of Perfumery”

Alberto Morillas, who has composed many of Versace’s fragrances, is regarded as a godlike figure in perfumery and is said to have created at least 500 perfumes for brands including Bvlgari, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Le Labo. The number of his collaborations with Versace indicates how strongly the house has insisted on working with the world’s finest noses in fragrance creation.

2025: The Twilight of the Versace Family Era

With Donatella’s departure in March and the acquisition by Prada Group later that year, 2025 marked the end of almost half a century in which the Versace family directly led the brand. Dario Vitale, who had joined as the new Creative Director, also left at the end of that year, and Pieter Mulier became Chief Creative Officer in July 2026. The future direction of the brand’s fragrances will be worth watching as well.

References