Fashion designer Gianni Versace (1946–1997), born on this day in the beautiful town of Reggio Calabria in southern Italy, inherited his love for fabrics and design from his mother, a dressmaker and clothing store owner.

“Designing came to me. I didn’t have to move,” he said. In 1978, he opened his own Milan boutique and began building a family fashion empire, inviting his brother Santo and sister Donatella to share in the vision.

“I believe in style,” he explained, letting his imagination fly as he designed clothes for the people he said he liked best: individuals with a free sense of style. Inspired by Greek art, Alexander Calder, and Andy Warhol, he created beautiful, flamboyant gowns and daring pieces, experimenting with leather, plastic, metal, and color-saturated prints.

“I’m trying to break the border between chic and shock,” he said, embracing innovation, drama, and media attention. He challenged and wooed the world. Celebrities flocked to his catwalks and joyfully wore his designs.

“I think it’s the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers,” Versace believed. “I’m a little like Marco Polo, going around and mixing cultures.”

Often called the Marco Polo of couture, he survived a rare inner ear cancer in 1993 and then expanded his creativity into bed linens, china, and other houseware treasures. In 1997, the world mourned when he was murdered outside his Miami oceanfront villa, Casa Casuarina, after a quiet morning walk.

In the years that followed, the Versace fashion house, still owned by the family, continued to grow and celebrate personality and individuality. As its founder once said, that is the key: being yourself. “Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way you live.”