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Who better to play legendary designer Gianni Versace than a celebrated actor who also sidelines as a fashion designer? Antonio Banderas enrolled in the famed art and design school Central Saint Martins in 2015 and just debuted his first collection in collaboration with Selected. And now he’s set to merge the best of both worlds depicting Versace in an upcoming biopic of the late designer’s life — someone who happens to have been influential in Banderas’ own design work.
The movie will be directed by Academy Award winner Bille August and will begin filming in December in Milan, then move to Reggio Calabria where Versace was born and finish in Miami, the location of his murder in 1997.
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The design house, lead today by his sister Donatella Versace, said the brand has no affiliation with the film telling Women’s Wear Daily it “has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming movie about Versace. The movie should only be seen as a work of fiction.”
Daniel Zuchnik/FilmMagic
But if anyone could take on the late legend’s life, Banderas is a worthy choice. In May he presented his first 30-piece collection with the Scandinavian label, Selected, which included a range of clothing from shirts, to chinos and motorcycle jackets, the latter of which he drew inspiration from Mr. Versace himself.
He incorporated gold metal embellishments into the biker jacket and told WWD it was thanks to Versace’s early designs, “Probably one of the happiest times of my life was the Eighties, and I remember Versace putting gold with leather,” he explained. “I had this in mind, so we wanted to add the gold color, it’s those little details. I love motorcycles, I ride motorcycles, so we wanted to have a jacket that I can use and people with bikes can use for that purpose.”
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If you can’t wait for the film’s premiere, there’s always Donatella Versace’s Lifetime biopic to keep you entertained until its release.
Are you excited to see Banderas’ portrayal of Versace? Share with us in the comments below.
— Colleen Kratofil
Follow @ckcolleen
