The Versus Rhombus Bag: Gianni Versace's Younger Line in the 1990s

Gianni Versace's fashion of the late 1980s and 1990s was built on colour, print and confidence. Alongside the main line, he created a younger label, Versus, which allowed the house to experiment with a more casual and graphic language. This rectangular handbag, printed with a rhombus pattern in red, blue and ivory and carried by a squared chrome-plated handle, belongs to that line.

Versus

Versus was launched in 1989. Accounts of the label agree that Gianni Versace created it for his sister, Donatella, who had worked closely with him since the house's early years and who took a leading role in its direction. It was conceived as a younger, more accessible line than Gianni Versace itself, with a rock-influenced and street-aware attitude, and it became a vehicle for Donatella's own taste within the company.

After Gianni Versace's death in 1997, Donatella became artistic director of the whole house. Versus continued, with interruptions, for many years: it was suspended in the mid-2000s, relaunched in 2009 and later folded into the house's other diffusion lines, according to published histories of the brand.

Graphic and youthful

The rhombus print on this bag is a clear example of the line's graphic character. Its repeated geometric pattern, in strong red and blue on an ivory ground, is closer to pop graphics than to the baroque scrolls and Greek keys of the main Versace collections. The glossy, coated finish of the printed textile and the rigid box shape give the bag a structured, almost architectural look, completed by the squared chrome handle.

The Archivary dates the bag to the early to mid-1990s, about 1992 to 1996, on the basis of its shape, materials and handle. That attribution reflects the style of the bag; we have not matched it to a specific collection or catalogue.

The object

The Archivary describes the bag as a rectangular, boxy Versus handbag made in Italy, printed with the rhombus motif in red, blue and ivory, with a chrome-plated squared metal handle. The original Itierre label is present inside. Its condition is recorded as excellent vintage, with slight wear.

The label deserves a note. Itierre, an Italian manufacturer, held licences to produce lines for several fashion houses, including Versace's younger lines, and labels naming the licensee are a common feature of diffusion-line pieces. Their presence helps to place the bag within the house's production system.

A line of its own

Diffusion lines are sometimes treated as lesser versions of a designer's main collection. Versus was more than that: it gave the house a place to try out ideas that did not fit the main line and, in hindsight, it records the early influence of Donatella Versace on the company. A bag like this one is a small part of that record.