Need Help With Gianni Versace Dress

[gelliot]

Hello, all!

I’ve been hanging onto this gown for quite some time now. I assumed it was fake when I purchased it- but now I want to do my due diligence and make sure. I’ve looked through many runway shows and countless photos and can’t find this dress. It looks like the ‘93 style of dress with the thigh slits and low bust line. It’s very stretchy and has a good weight to it. I didn’t properly lace it up. The fact that it’s polyester made me assume it was fake but I don’t know much about Versace. Can anyone tell? Thank you!

 

[gelliot]

Also I should add- I am looking to possibly sell it if it’s real, so any pricing tips would be so appreciated as well. Happy to have found this community- thanks!

 

[Midge]

Hi and welcome to the forums. Unfortunately, those are the two questions we can't answer here: we can neither authenticate nor value items. For authentication, one would have to have an item in hand, and value depends on many things like condition, where and even by whom something is being sold.

I see what you mean about this possibly being from 1993, and looking at the runway photos, I would guess that those dresses there were made from a material that did have some stretch to it. Ittierre is an Italian company that produced garments for various designer labels.

 

[gelliot]

Hi and welcome to the forums. Unfortunately, those are the two questions we can't answer here: we can neither authenticate nor value items. For authentication, one would have to have an item in hand, and value depends on many things like condition, where and even by whom something is being sold.

I see what you mean about this possibly being from 1993, and looking at the runway photos, I would guess that those dresses there were made from a material that did have some stretch to it. Ittierre is an Italian company that produced garments for various designer labels.

Ah I see, thank you for the clarification!

 

[Jonathan]

The question of what is real can be in the realm of 'alternative facts' and 'truthiness'... Ittierre makes legal knock-offs, but I wouldn't call a 1930s 'adaptation' dress of a Vionnet or Chanel design an authentic Vionnet or Chanel. It's like those labels you see on many goods these days 'designed in Italy, made in China'...

 

[gelliot]

The question of what is real can be in the realm of 'alternative facts' and 'truthiness'... Ittierre makes legal knock-offs, but I wouldn't call a 1930s 'adaptation' dress of a Vionnet or Chanel design an authentic Vionnet or Chanel. It's like those labels you see on many goods these days 'designed in Italy, made in China'...

Legal knock-offs... I wasn’t aware of that being a thing. Thank you for that info! If this dress is an Ittierre legal knock-off, that would explain why it’s in such good condition with a 90’s label. It either feels like it was recently made or was kept safe in a closet for a long time.

 

[Katarzyna]

Ittierre buys licenses from various brands, and they make cheaper "versions" of their clothes. That's why you're not going to find this dress on the runway. It's a cheaper license line.

 

[Rue_de_la_Paix]

My only comments are it is a wonderful dress and I love the corset look. And, the fabric looks like Tencel or a similar fabric, which came out in the around 1990 (if I recall) and was used quite a bit. It had a heavier weight than most polyester due to the rayon fibers and had a wonderful rich drape to it. I love Tencel, and the weave looks right for that also. Of course, I cannot tell for sure from the photo. I have seen high end garments using Tencel.

 

[gelliot]

Ittierre buys licenses from various brands, and they make cheaper "versions" of their clothes. That's why you're not going to find this dress on the runway. It's a cheaper license line.

I see, so it most likely is a version of the ‘93 Spring/Summer gowns. Very interesting! Thank you for your insight.

 

[gelliot]

My only comments are it is a wonderful dress and I love the corset look. And, the fabric looks like Tencel or a similar fabric, which came out in the around 1990 (if I recall) and was used quite a bit. It had a heavier weight than most polyester due to the rayon fibers and had a wonderful rich drape to it. I love Tencel, and the weave looks right for that also. Of course, I cannot tell for sure from the photo. I have seen high end garments using Tencel.

I love the corset look as well. The dress really is gorgeous and the weight of the fabric gives it a beautiful drape. Hard to capture with my amateur photography. Thanks for the Tencel info- I remember that fabric being a popular one for pants in the 90’s.

 

[Vintagiality]

Tencel is a type of rayon. While based on the content tag, the dress does have some viscose, which is another type of rayon, its content is mostly polyester.

 

[GemGem]

Gianni Versace Couture label was like this between the late 80's through to the late 90s. While it is not possible to verify, Ittierre had the licence for production and distribution. As far as I am aware they did not have a licence to produce and sell a surplus or alternative designs. Ittierre went into administration some years ago but it did at one point hold many licence deals for similar fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Cavalli & Galliano. While most of the fashion houses chose their ready to wear and diffusion lines to be made by Ittierre it is not impossible that it had the licence for some of the couture designs/lines and in fact I have seen the labels before and sold several on the couture label, all from the 90s.I did come across a huge quantity of diffusion line pieces that were found in a closed out Ittierre warehouse and sold en masse, some of which did feature on the catwalk.

 

[gelliot]

Gianni Versace Couture label was like this between the late 80's through to the late 90s. While it is not possible to verify, Ittierre had the licence for production and distribution. As far as I am aware they did not have a licence to produce and sell a surplus or alternative designs. Ittierre went into administration some years ago but it did at one point hold many licence deals for similar fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana, Cavalli & Galliano. While most of the fashion houses chose their ready to wear and diffusion lines to be made by Ittierre it is not impossible that it had the licence for some of the couture designs/lines and in fact I have seen the labels before and sold several on the couture label, all from the 90s.I did come across a huge quantity of diffusion line pieces that were found in a closed out Ittierre warehouse and sold en masse, some of which did feature on the catwalk.

Fascinating- this is the type of info I was searching for! It was so difficult to unearth any information on this. It seems I still cannot say for sure until I have someone look at it in person- but this was so helpful, thank you! I found this dress in a small thrift shop for $8.

 

[GemGem]

Fascinating- this is the type of info I was searching for! It was so difficult to unearth any information on this. It seems I still cannot say for sure until I have someone look at it in person- but this was so helpful, thank you! I found this dress in a small thrift shop for $8.

If you look up Gianni Versace couture pieces on ebay and etsy you will find similar items, with similar labels.