Versace

Few fashion houses have a visual language as instantly recognizable as Versace. A golden Medusa, a border of Greek key, a swirl of gilded baroque scrolls: on a dinner plate these codes feel just as confident as they do on the runway, and they turn an ordinary table into a statement.

Rosenthal Meets Versace

Gianni Versace founded his house in 1978. Versace was among the first fashion houses to launch home interiors, starting in 1992 with textiles and soon adding porcelain tableware. That same year Gianni Versace began working with Rosenthal, the porcelain maker founded by Philipp Rosenthal in 1879, and the first collection of the partnership, Medusa, was launched in 1993.

The collaboration has continued for more than three decades under the name "Rosenthal meets Versace." For its thirtieth anniversary in 2023, Rosenthal released a limited series of thirty mugs, each wearing a different décor from the archive and topped with a golden Medusa head on the lid. The partnership pairs the design codes of Versace with Rosenthal's long experience in porcelain and crystal.

The Language of the House

The Medusa is the heart of it all. Taken from Greek mythology, the Medusa head is the house's signature symbol, and a Medusa plaque discovered on the doors of Via Gesù 12, the first Versace headquarters, still inspires designs today. Around it, the Greca, or Greek key, has long served as a border, framing plates, cups and vases in a crisp geometric band.

The third great code is Barocco, a dense pattern of gilded scrolls and ornament inspired by baroque decoration. Together with the Medusa and the Greca, it appears again and again across the home collections. Rosenthal describes the Medusa line itself as a golden Medusa head surrounded by expressive baroque decoration in aristocratic colors, a fair summary of the whole Versace table.

The Signature Patterns

The original Medusa design, in red, gold and black, lives on in patterns such as Medusa Red, and the Medusa head also anchors Medusa Grande and Medusa Rhapsody. Medusa Lumière moves the motif into crystal: its glasses include a dark gray Haze version, and champagne glasses with small Medusa heads set into the stems. You can find these designs across our Versace dinnerware and Versace barware.

La Scala del Palazzo is one of the most graceful designs in the range. It takes its cue from the marble staircase of the Versace palazzo, whose swirling metallic spirals became the decoration, set in green and pastel rose with gold. Its plates were the first in the range to use coupe-style rims.

The baroque family includes Barocco Haze, Barocco Mosaic and the exuberant I Love Baroque, while Virtus Gala and Prestige Gala, as their names suggest, are dressed for gala dinners. For something lighter, Butterfly Garden and Jungle Animalier carry nature and animal motifs into the Versace vocabulary, showing that the house can be playful as well as grand.

Setting the Table

Versace porcelain is at its best when it is given room. A single bold pattern, such as Medusa Red or La Scala del Palazzo, can carry an entire table, while a quieter white or one-tone piece underneath lets the decoration shine. Many collectors start with a charger or a dinner plate in one pattern and build outward with coordinated salad plates, bowls and cups.

Glassware completes the picture. Medusa Lumière glasses beside Medusa porcelain repeat the same motif in crystal, and a pair of glasses is an easy way to bring the house codes to the bar cart without committing to a full service.

The tea and coffee pieces make an easy introduction to the brand, since a single cup and saucer or a mug brings the Medusa to the everyday ritual of the morning coffee. Our home decor collection adds vases and decorative objects that make memorable gifts for weddings, housewarmings and milestone birthdays.

Pieces with gold decoration deserve a gentle hand: wash them by hand with a mild detergent, dry them with a soft cloth and avoid abrasive pads that could dull the gilding. With that care, Versace porcelain keeps its brilliance for years of celebrations.