Gianni Versace Interview at the Versace Mansion Best Buddies Fundraiser (December 15, 1994)

Best Buddies International is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. It consists of volunteers that create opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The program's main purpose is to allow volunteers to be paired up with a buddy with an intellectual and developmental disability and provide them with a friend or a mentor.[1] Best Buddies is the world's largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with IDD.[2] It is an international movement that has spread to over 54 countries worldwide.[3] Founded in 1989 by Anthony Kennedy Shriver, Best Buddies is an international organization that has grown from one original chapter to more than 1,500 college, high school and middle school campuses across the United States and internationally.[4] The Georgetown University Chapter of Best Buddies is the biggest in the Washington, D.C., area and is also the birthplace of the organization.[5] Gianni Versace S.r.l. (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒanni verˈsaːtʃe]), usually referred to as Versace (/vərˈsɑːtʃeɪ/ vər-SAH-chay),[a] is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors.[6][7][8] The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as haute couture under its Atelier Versace brand[9] and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear.[10] Gianni Versace being a native of Calabria, in the ancient Magna Grecia (Greater Greece), the company logo is inspired by Medusa, a figure from Greek mythology.[11] Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (Italian: [dʒoˈvanni maˈriːa verˈsaːtʃe];[a] 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Princess Diana, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Madonna, Elton John, Tupac Shakur and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world.[4] He and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene.[5] The place where he was born and raised, Reggio di Calabria, greatly influenced his career. On 15 July 1997, he was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion, Casa Casuarina, by spree killer Andrew Cunanan.[6][7][8] Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, is an American property built in 1930, renowned for being owned by and the place of the murder of the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace; he lived there from 1992 until his death in 1997. It is located at 1116 Ocean Drive in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida, in the Miami Beach Architectural District. Since 2015, it has been adapted into and operates as a luxury boutique hotel known as The Villa Casa Casuarina.