Gianni Maria Versace was an Italian fashion designer, especially known for his bold style and flashy designs. Raised in the metropolitan city of Reggio Calabria, he grew up watching his mother designing clothes and running a successful fashion business. It must have influenced him greatly because he started apprenticing under her soon after leaving school and by the age of twenty-six left home to work as a freelance designer in Milan. Within a year, he became known for his excellent designs and buoyed by his success opened his own establishment at the age of thirty-one, presenting his first signature collection for women in the same year. Going against the prevailing trend of muted colors and simplistic designs, he began using bright colors, bold prints, and sexy cuts. Very soon, he also started using unusual materials like aluminum mesh and innovative skills like laser technology to fuse leather and rubber, becoming an international celebrity within a short span of time. He did not live to enjoy his success for long; he was assassinated at his very doorstep at the age of fifty.