Well, sort of. Lady Gaga's "Edge Of Glory" video, which debuted online this week, features her cavorting around in an all-vintage Versace outfit. Turns out, Donatella Versace, a big Gaga fan, opened up the Versace archives just for the pop star, making Gaga the first outsider to touch those pieces in more than 10 years. The outfit Gaga wears in the video is from the collections of Versace founder and designer Gianni Versace, who was tragically murdered in 1997.
Known for insanely stylized, groundbreaking videos, Gaga's latest clip continues the shock trend--but this time it's shocking because of its simplicity. After parting way with initial director Joseph Kahn, who did Gaga's relatively demure "LoveGame" and "Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" videos, Gaga took the helm (the video is now credited to "The Haus Of Gaga"). I was pleased to see E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons as the only other featured character in the video, a fitting tribute since he was hospitalized just this past weekend after suffering a stroke.
Otherwise, Gaga just dances around on a faux-New York City set, like a scene out of a movie musicals--no spaceships, no weirdness, nothing. Even more surprising, Lady Gaga only wears a single outfit...but what an outfit! Sorry, but leather beats latex any day, in my book.
Discussing the honor of being the first to publicly wear those Gianni Versace pieces since his death, Gaga told one interviewer that she vows to wear as much vintage Versace as she can for the next two months. So not only is Donatella allowing the singer to pull from the coveted archive for her video, but also for her daily life--it's amazing what you can do if you're the biggest superstar in the world, huh? I personally would write a 500-page term paper with one eye and one hand just for those heavy metal gloves.
Few other designers defined extravagance in the '90s as much as Gianni Versace. His penchant for Romanesque excess, colorful silk prints, and gold-encrusted bondage leather was a perfect fit for the strong, Amazonian supermodels of the day (who would surely knock over today's brood of willowy, doll-faced models). All this Versace-wear is a welcome change for Gaga after her heavy, months-long endorsement for the futuristic latex designs of stylist/Thierry Mugler creative director Nicola Formichetti. (Gaga may have ditched Mugler for a bit, but Formichetti still styled her Versace pieces, so he can't be too bummed.)
As current as Lady Gaga is, it's interesting that her personal style always looks far into the future, or into the lavishness of the past. If anything, her fashion sense could never be considered simply, merely "now."
As for me, I just have to record three number-one albums until I can raid the Versace archives too! Simple enough, right?
Watch Lady Gaga's video (and amazing outfit) for "The Edge of Glory":
[Cindy Crawford photos at Versace's "Rock 'N Rule" Fashion Show in 1992 by Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage]
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