Fantini Mosaici X Versace

A close symbiosis of like-minded creatives resulted when fashion designer Gianni Versace approached Fantini Mosaici, one of Italy's most respected mosaic and stone companies.

Their initial collaboration was for the late fashion designer's villa in Moltrasio on Lake Como; the Casa Casuarina mansion in Miami followed this. Meticulous and demanding, Versace trusted the company with his first boutique in Paris, followed by his London boutique and then every Versace overseas outlet, as well as his Milan and New York homes.

Fantini Mosaici hand-crafted and installed floors in the luxurious five-star Versace Palazzo hotels and condominiums in Dubai and the Australian Gold Coast, with another one following in Macau.

The legacy of the late style maestro Gianni Versace continues to live on through the four-decade-long relationship with one of Italy's oldest and most respected mosaic companies, Fantini Mosaici. Both companies’ roots are bedded in traditional bespoke Italian craft, where attention to detail is paramount.

Today, several decades after Gianni's passing, Versace and Fantini Mosaici continue their collaboration in luxury interiors and hospitality projects designed by Versace Interior Design Studio.

Let us step back and trace the development of this unique and powerful relationship that bonds these two historic Italian companies, which are perfect examples of Made in Italy excellence.

The late Italo Fantin cemented the relationship with the then-upcoming fashion designer. They created the extravagant mosaics that decorated Gianni Versace's debut boutiques, first in their native Italy and then globally.

As the Versace fashion empire continued an upward trajectory, especially in the 1990s, Versace involved the talent of the Fantini Mosaici designers and artisans to create opulent interiors that reflected his increasing global status as a sort of mythical god of the fashion world.

Therefore, it was unsurprising that when Gianni Versace sought to branch out and extend his runway looks into the world of interiors, he invited Fantini Mosaici to be part of this move.

Gianni personally sketched his visions for his homes, and Fantini Mosaici interpreted these dreams into realities. He often revisited designs for floors and walls that Fantini had already created for the designer’s ever-increasing portfolio of exuberant palatial homes.

Soon after the first Versace Home Collection was launched in 1992, Gianni impetuously purchased a sprawling home in Miami's South Beach. He selected the colours, materials and inspirations from Greek mythology that he wanted Fantini to translate into the ultimate modern-day Versace Palace.

Gianni sought to bring some of the designs from his fashion collections and scarves into the design of his home – asking Fantini to recreate the silk scarves within unique floors. The result was a magnificent South Beach residence, the epitome of the Versace style.

Today, The Villa Casa Casuarina is a private luxury hotel and is said to be one of the most photographed homes in the US, after Graceland and the White House. The mansion was filled from floor to ceiling with elaborate Fantini Mosaici mosaics, pebble stone and terrazzo finishes. Thousands of gold-karat mosaic pieces were used in the pool alone.

People from all over the United States and the world make design pilgrimages to Versace's former Miami mansion, which oozes with the designer's personality and mosaic adornments of Medusa heads, Venus and other Greek mythology symbols and the so-called 'Million Mosaic Pool’ by Fantini Mosaici.

Gianni Versace was among the first fashion designers to make the foray into brand extension; he transitioned from his haute couture collections to homeware and then into hospitality.

When Australia’s Sunland development company was looking for a unique resort concept, it tied up with Versace for the 2000 opening of the Palazzo Versace on the Australian Gold Coast, the playground for wealthy Australians.

Fantini Mosaici created the artistic mosaics for the hotel that would extend his well-known style. The Palazzo Versace Gold Coast hotel and condos opened to much global fanfare, and the property continues to flourish today due to the deep-rooted Versace/Fantini design DNA that ensures that the Versace brand is represented in a way that is true to its founder's vision.

Client and customer loyalty is a trait that both these brands share. Following the immense success of the Gold Coast property, Sunland again requested that Fantini Mosaici mosaics and pebble stone be at the heart of the neoclassical-style Palazzo Versace overlooking the Dubai Creek.

This significant US$500 million hospitality development started in 2007. However, following the financial crisis of 2008, the project was delayed by five years, as many of the companies initially involved were unable to meet their obligations. However, Fantini Mosaici was one of the few who remained committed to the project.

For the next five years, hundreds of artisans painstakingly placed every mosaic in this grand hotel and condominium development, which was opened by Gianni's sister Donatella Versace, the creative force behind Versace today. The richly decorated hotel has 150 guest rooms and 65 suites, all furnished with Versace Home furniture and accessories and embellished with Fantini Mosaici mosaic detailing.

The selection of colours, designs and materials was a vital part of Palazzo Versace Dubai's interior design.

The main patterns requested by Versace came from Greece and Roman art; these include the decorative meander and the classic vases. The meanders in marble mosaics are formed of a continuous line, shaped into a repeated motif seen in Versace's interiors. The designs of classic vases holding fruits and flowers, crafted in marble mosaics, decorate the walls of the bathrooms of this modern property.

A Gianni Versace scarf was the main inspiration behind the creation a breath-taking 300-square metre mosaic carpet floor in the main lobby. This masterpiece, crafted by hand, follows Gianni Versace’s concept of creating floors inspired by the prints of his scarfs, as done in Casa Casuarina.

The 1,500-square metre porte-cochere is one of the largest that Fantini Mosaici has ever created for a hotel in this category, and three times the size of the one at the Gold Coast property. Each pebble stone that forms the hotel's main entrance flooring was sourced from river beds in Italy and placed by hand.

The third Versace-branded Palazzo Versace property, again featuring detailed mosaic and stonework by Fantini Mosaici, opened recently in Macau. Developed by SJM Holdings, the Palazzo Versace occupies one of the Grand Lisboa complex towers.

Today, dedicated followers of Versace's fashion style are often seen at either of these two hotels, which are the epitome of the Versace style as interpreted in mosaic and other noble stones by Fantini Mosaici, emphasising that luxury lies in the materials and the quality of craftsmanship.

Working with Dar Al Arkan, a significant developer in Saudi Arabian, Versace Home will design a limited edition of residential villas to add to its brand portfolio. Again, the extravagant villas will feature Fantini Mosaici mosaics.

The close collaboration of these two quintessentially Italian brands continues to flourish, and new projects are already in the pipeline. It is often said that Versace took Fantini Mosaici to the world, while Fantini Mosaici played a significant role in some of the fashion house's most successful brand extensions and contributed to the instantly recognisable look and feel of Versace's global network of boutiques, hotels and private residences.