THE WORLD INSIDE A FRAME

Gianni Versace and fashion: the word to Mimmo Calopresti

MARCH 2024 - TALKS

"Versace was convinced that he was a great artist, therein lay his genius"

«I’m interested in fashion because there is this very high representation, but in everyday life it must, of necessity, be reduced to the essentials. I enjoy the creative process behind it, and Versace is the perfect personification of this omnivorous creativity, he cut out newspapers, he bought art, he was inspired by everything.”

 

These are the words of Mimmo Calopresti, whom we met in the coffee room of Palazzo Merulana in Rome, on a morning in early February that looks like spring. The whiteness of the early twentieth-century sculptures that surround us is an almost too perfect backdrop for the director, with gray hair and a blue wool crewneck pullover. After all, it could not be otherwise: the place of the appointment was chosen by him, a man of cinema and successes, accustomed to making the world fit into a frame.

 

A story that seems to have been born for the cinema, that of Gianni Versace. But it wouldn't be the only one worth telling. A story that seems to have been born for the cinema, that of Gianni Versace. But it wouldn't be the only one worth telling.
A story that seems to have been born for the cinema, that of Gianni Versace. But it wouldn't be the only one worth telling. A story that seems to have been born for the cinema, that of Gianni Versace. But it wouldn't be the only one worth telling.

The pretext for this chat is offered by the release of his latest work, a docufiction (as it is called today, a very ugly name that however gives the idea) dedicated to Gianni Versace, and to his being an “emperor of dreams” as the title of the work makes clear.

“Gianni was a man without limits. I didn’t meet him in person, even though we were practically neighbors – in fact, in Calabria Gianni Versace was a kind of relative of everyone, loved and hated, first a point of reference, then the one who had abandoned his land. In addition to our shared origins, however, we have another thing in common: I also had a tailor at home, my father, as was Gianni’s mother. This, and my constant attraction to the world of fashion, led me to take an interest in Versace. Who was the true great revolutionary of Italian fashion, always one step ahead, always crossed by this madness.

Versace was convinced that he was a great artist, and therein lay his genius. His love for ballet, his relationship with Béjart… He was always in the middle of the world, always on the hunt for something new. He was a true icon, and in fact he also had a death as an artist, as a rock star.”

A story that seems to have been born for the cinema, that of Gianni Versace. But it would not be the only one worthy of being told. Yet, despite the fact that fashion loves cinema very much, it would seem that it is not reciprocated, as if it were a minor art. A problem closely intertwined with another, as Calopresti points out: “The bourgeoisie in Italy is not talked about, as is its entrepreneurship: think of the Agnellis, of Olivetti, there is still a certain Catholic-communism that wants money to be done but not to be said. Italian cinema ignores these things, perhaps Carlo Vanzina with “Sotto il abito niente” gave voice to fashion. And yet I think that the golden age of the eighties, of the supermodels, would be a beautiful story. But in Italy the intellectual has this kind of rejection for fashion, and screenwriters no longer frequent the places they tell, they talk about everything without knowing anything. In America, storytelling is done at a high level. Take Gay Talese: Calabrian origins and a family that ran a boutique, and in fact he also writes about fashion and costume with a literary flair. And in addition to a lack of investment in writing, there is also a lack of investment. In other countries they are better than us at this, they work as a system.”

In short, the situation in the country that originated the most successful and recognized brand in the fashion industry, that Made in Italy so much bandied about, is not rosy, yet taste flows in the blood of Italians, who do not feed on food alone. In fact, Calopresti continues: “The average Italian dresses carefully: you see him at the bar, dressed to the nines talking about important things, even if he doesn’t have a job and lives from day to day. Italy is wonderful for this: it has crazy landscapes, many different cultures, eclectic styles. On the other hand, those who produce want us all to be the same, easier to control. Well, Versace wouldn’t have had fun in this conformist and profit-driven society, where digital flattens everything.”

by Enrica Murru