Versace is a luxurious Italian fashion brand that is known for its haute couture pieces of fashionable clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. The actual name is Gianni Versace, however, it’s simply referred to as Versace. This company was founded in Milan, Italy in 1978 and is now one of the most popular and expensive brands with a high-quality taste. Innovative designs with stylish bright colors and symbolic flashy prints are what the brand is known for. Several supermodels have walked the ramp wearing Versace’s iconic pieces. What’s most interesting about this brand is the logo. The Versace logo is very fascinating and it somewhat holds a mystery. This article will analyze Versace’s logo and we will learn more about Versace in depth. Here is the topic- Versace Logo Meaning.
A Greek mythological figure, called Medusa, is the head of the Versace logo. This was found on the floor of ruins in an area of Reggio Calabria. The Versace siblings would play in that area when they were young. The reason why this logo was chosen by Gianni Versace was that Medusa would make people fall in love with her and they had no way back, and so he hoped the same effect on people who would wear his brand’s clothes or shoes. He wanted to enchant people forever with Versace’s pieces of clothing and footwear. Let’s go further into detail.
The story of Medusa head logo –
Gianni Versace grew up with his siblings in Reggio Calabria. He moved to Milan when he was in his 20s and worked for several designers. He started his label in 1978. Until 1993, he used his name, Versace, as the company’s logo. He recalled the Medusa head that was found in the ruins of his hometown, Reggio Calabria.
Gianni Versace was amused by Greek mythology and the Hellenic heritage. Reggio Calabria is in Southern Italy, which was once a part of Great Greece (Magna Graecia). The ancient Greeks had colonized several regions of Southern Italy and this left a permanent impact on culture and tradition to date.
The early years of Gianni Versace’s life may have impacted the Medusa head logo which he used.
Medusa – who was she?
One of the three Gorgons – Medusa, was a part of classic Greek mythology. She was the only mortal among her other two Gorgon sisters – Stheno and Euryale. She is described as an angry-looking woman with snakes in place of hair on her head with monstrous features.
Originally, Medusa was a beautiful maiden. She had long locks of hair and she looked very seductive. She admired Goddess Athena and decided to become a priestess in Athena’s temple. For being a priestess, she had to be chaste.
One day, while walking on the shore, she captured the eye of Poseidon, the Greek God of the sea. Poseidon tried his best to coax Medusa so that he could get her, but Medusa didn’t listen to him, because she had to remain chaste as she was a priestess.
Poseidon grew tired of Medusa’s refusal, and he decided to ravish her in Athena’s temple. Suddenly Athena arrived and saw what happened. She became very angry at Medusa for not following the temple’s norms. She then punished Medusa with monstrous bodily features and serpent hair. She also cursed her that anyone who would look at her would turn into stone. Punishing Poseidon was out of the question for her as she thought that this was a part of male nature. Medusa looked frightful like a monster.
After hearing that Medusa had turned into a monster who would turn anyone into stone by just one straight look, several warriors now wanted her head so that they could easily win their battles by turning their enemies into stone. They also wanted to add her to their list of trophies. Medusa could be easily killed as she was mortal but beheading her was a difficult task.
Perseus, a hero and the son of God Zeus, was finally tasked to retrieve her head. Perseus was given several aids from the Gods.
The God Hades gave him a helmet so that he could become invisible. A pair of winged sandals were given to him by Hermes which allowed him to reach Medusa faster. Goddess Athena gave him a shield by which he was able to reflect Medusa’s gaze. And lastly, he was given a sharp sword to cut off the head of Medusa.
With the help of these divine aids, Perseus bravely beheaded Medusa. Medusa was pregnant with the offspring of Poseidon at the time of her death. When she was beheaded, Chrysaor and Pegasus sprang out from the blood that was spurting out from her neck.
Perseus used Medusa’s head to aid him in several adventures. Her head was also used in defeating Atlas, the Titan.
Since then, Medusa is portrayed like this, often being associated with anger and evil, unlike earlier when she was tender and beautiful.
Modern interpretations of Medusa –
Around the beginning of the 20th century, Medusa was slowly being recognized as a victim by the feminists. She was soon making appearances in modern literature and culture. That also includes the time when Gianni Versace adopted her head as his brand’s logo.
Her story was interpreted as a case of rape-victim blaming by Goddess Athena, in contemporary art.
Medusa also became synonymous with feminine rage.
According to Elizabeth Johnston, “Medusa is the go-to figure for those seeking to demonize female authority.”
Several people and theorists have rejected the patriarchal system of Western culture, by looking up to Medusa.
Why Gianni Versace chose Medusa –
As an imaginative power, Gianni Versace drew conclusively on the artistries of his upbringing and environment, which were pervaded with ancient Greek art and mythology.
The fabled and mythical Medusa had become an ideal emblematic figure to represent Versace. She was an enigma for Gianni Versace – attractive yet terrifying, aghasting yet captivating, and dreadful yet pleasantly.
With this same spirit of multi-dimensional innovation, Donatella Versace controls the Versace brand, whilst also broadening the definition of Medusa to the new and younger generation of audiences and clientele.
Tragedical similarities –
Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace also had an older sister, named Tina, who died at the age of 12 due to a tetanus infection. Several times they have mentioned that frequent, sudden death was common in their family. Even Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997 in front of his Miami Beach mansion.
Reportedly, Gianni Versace chose the Medusa head logo after he remembered seeing it in the ancient ruins of Reggio Calabria, where he would play with his siblings as children.
He understood the pain that Medusa must have felt when she was herself blamed for the heinous act done to her, by Goddess Athena, as he had also lost a sister in the past. He understood what it feels like when destiny punishes you for no reason. It is easy to understand how someone would feel if they were cursed for a mistake that was not theirs. Hence, the Versace family share similar tragedies faced by Medusa, and the same is reflected in their logo. The Medusa head on top and Versace have written below it explains how both Medusa and Versace are now linked together, facing their tragedies equally yet rising above all, being weak yet bold, and being cursed yet beautiful in their way.
A few more things to know –
Snakes often represent trickery or evilness in Western culture. Hence, replacing Medusa’s beautiful hair with a bunch of living snakes was done purposefully. Athena not only turned Medusa into a beast, but she also made her look like an evil woman, even though she was not.
The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art states that it is rare for sculptures or characters in ancient Greek to face forward or look straight. But when it comes to Medusa, several sculptures and paintings have been found where she gazes directly into the viewer’s eye, including the Versace logo itself. The way she looks at the viewers is of course very enchanting and uncompromising, hence there is no going back, which is exactly why Versace has it as their logo. Once you look at Medusa, you can’t go back, and once you choose Versace, you can’t go back, as they both are captivating. And that’s the reason why the logo is so fascinating because it may come off as ‘ugly’ to many but also enchants them.
This is how Versace’s logo has found Medusa, or maybe Medusa has found Versace. This logo was designed by Gianni himself in 1992 and not much has changed since then. Medusa’s head is one of the strongest marks in the fashion world that is inspired by an ancient ruin.
Medusa is line-drawn in the logo and she looks at us straight away in the eyes with a slight smile on her face, which is also very enthralling, and her face is set in a circle surrounded by a meandros (key border) which is typically found in Greek designs, especially on pottery. The best part about the logo is that we don’t see any snakes in Medusa’s head, instead, we see beautiful, swaying locks of hair. This could symbolize Gianni’s faith in the goodness of Medusa and his belief that he had made her look beautiful again as she was before so that people get attracted to the Versace brand just the way Poseidon was attracted to her, without any going back.
This logo is an iconic fashion symbol of all time and it stands out. The branding is minimal yet very over the top.
Versace designs –
Versace is known for mixing several elements into its fashion pieces. They are an audacious brand that fuses high fashion with street style and the result is bombastic. They mix metal, mesh, leather in brightly jarred colors. Rock-n-roll aesthetic and a neo-punk vibe are given off with black leather, bomber jackets, zippers, and flashy golden jewels.
Several of Versace’s designs on clothing and accessories are of Medusa.
Baroque prints, especially in gold, are one of the most popular Versace designs that are commonly found on their bomber jackets.
Oroton, a mesh-like lightweight metallic fabric was invented by Gianni Versace that has been adorned by several models.
Another popular Versace style is the bondage dress, which involves straps and buckles.
They have also made dresses with large chunky safety pins on the sides that were very popular in 1994.
Gold metal detailing on clothes or jewelry is also used by Versace several times, in which they involve everything between chains and straps to huge embellishments.
Versace has also included pop art in their dresses, especially in 1991 when they incorporated Andy Warhol’s screenprints of Marilyn Monroe onto their clothing.
Versace also uses heavy embellishments from blinged-out pieces to simple adornments.
Tropical prints have also been used on Versace’s dresses, especially bright leafy, flora, and fauna prints all over.
Hence, we can say that Versace has come a long way from 1978 to the present, and they have faced several challenges over the years yet they didn’t budge and kept moving on instead.
Medusa’s head as their logo can be an inspiration for many as it tells us that we can still give a chance to others’ mistakes. Gianni through this logo gave another chance to Medusa when she was previously beautiful and he also gives female empowerment a chance, that’s the reason why we see her original hair and not snakes. This logo has been interpreted deeply in modern times, especially when it comes to ending male chauvinism.
Medusa had to go through a lot – being raped by Poseidon, being cursed by Athena, and then being beheaded by Perseus. Several critics have questioned Athena as the Goddess of wisdom, as she punished the victim and not the perpetrator. On the other hand, several have also said that both Athena and Medusa fell trapped into the world of female subordination, as one was raped and the other couldn’t protect her or punish the assailant, as he was a male.
Hence, this clearly depicts how male hegemony had captured the rights of women since ancient times, which is also clearly reflected in mythologies across the world in several cultural backgrounds. Versace did a great job by putting Medusa as their logo as it can prove not only her but several women as innocent and it gives rise to a whole new level of female empowerment. In the modern setting, Medusa is now portrayed as a victim who was punished for something she did not do and also a woman who deserved so much but she fell trapped into the world. Several people have also come out to resonate with her as they had similar experiences. This proves that tragedies can be faced by anyone and destiny can sometimes punish the victim instead of the criminal.
Therefore, the Medusa logo on Versace is mysterious, yet enchanting as it has developed a new meaning in modern times. Medusa and Versace are linked with several differences yet similarities and they complement each other that way.
Outside of Greek mythology, the lore of Medusa has found a new definition as the logo of Versace, and she has now become a part of Versace’s legend instead, where she is deeply honored and graceful.
