First time on show in Spain: Gianni Versace's designs made for Princess Diana and Elton John are coming to Malaga

A legend and absolute fashion icon, Gianni Versace not only created a brand but also a lifestyle that sat halfway between ready-to-wear and haute couture, between the trendy and the artistic, the practical and the revolutionary. Responsible for the world of textile design settling in Milan as its HQ and for initiating the era of supermodels who broke frontiers without stepping off the catwalk, this couturier and creator of clothing was the most sought-after by so many clients, including Princess Diana (affectionately known in Spain as 'Lady Di') and Elton John, both of whom he dressed and personally befriended. Better still, his outfits for Lady Di and the Rocket Man singer-songwriter will be two of the pieces to be on show for the first time in Spain as part of this exhibition of many unseen pieces entitled 'Gianni Versace. Retrospective', which will open to the public on 7 February at the Centro Cultural Fundación Unicaja in the Costa del Sol capital.

"The exhibition will be a walk through his life, his challenges, his many successes and experiences that had such a dramatic end, so each room will try to convey the emotion of his life and his work", said exhibition curator Karl Von der Ahé.

The show will include more than 500 original pieces including dresses, accessories, unpublished photographs, fabrics, drawings, prototype pieces and prints from the different periods of the designer's career.

The tour takes us through nine rooms, illustrating the Italian's impact on the world of fashion and helping visitors to discover the revolutionary creation of a pioneer who took inspiration from the classical world in which he grew up, in the southern Italian town of Reggio Calabria, but who also synthesised in his work the baroque influence, with many contemporary trends like pop art or bondage so prevalent in punk fashion.

As Richard Martin - an expert on his patterns - once said: "Gianni Versace went beyond fashion and defined himself as a spectator of the world." The German curator added that Versace described himself as follows: "I live like Marco Polo, travelling, and I am a mirror of the world."

Eight years ago Von der Ahé met a collector of the Italian couturier's dresses and it is that person's collection that forms the basis of this exhibition. An enigmatic character whose name is not forthcoming from the curator, but who "always wears black".

These personal treasures are joined in this montage by original pieces on loan from another ten private collections from Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, "clients who were always in the front row at his fashion shows". Together they will show the mixture of Mediterranean sensuality and Hollywood glamour that made the couturier a design icon.

Of the hundreds of garments and other items in this exhibition, the ones that will most attract the attention of fashion fans will be the 120 looks created exclusively by Versace. "All of them are authentic and there are none of Donatella's, but they all passed through her hands," said Von der Ahé, making it clear that the selected exhibits are all from when the fashion house was controlled by the designer himself. Today it is part of a business investment conglomerate. So, the collection to be exhibited in Malaga will show iconic garments, such as those made by the Italian for his friends Princess Diana and Elton John, both of whose closeness to Gianni could be clearly seen at the designer's funeral after his assassination in Miami in 1997.

Theirs will not be the only outfits drawing attention, however, as his patterns and fabrics for the actress Liz Hurley, his work with Madonna and the legendary design with the image of Marilyn Monroe for Andy Warhol, an artist he met personally at the Studio 54 nightclub in New York, will also be on display. In addition, in the supermodel room - a term coined by Versace himself - there will be a black dress from the bondage collection worn by Naomi Campbell and another famous design made popular by Kate Moss on the catwalk.

The retrospective aspires to be the "definitive exhibition" on Gianni Versace "due to the volume of the pieces and their quality," said Emilia Garrido, head of Plastic Arts at the Unicaja Foundation, who also highlighted how this exhibition captures something of the couturier's house in Miami where he was murdered on the doorstep in 1997. Thus, in honour of the creator himself, the exhibition is designed specifically for Malaga and, in particular, for the cultural centre that will house it for its similarity to the couturier's last home.

"The first time I visited this building and saw the façade I thought it was a perfect place for Gianni Versace, a former bishop's palace whose patio also reminded me of the interior of his house in Miami Beach, which was built according to the canons of Andalusian architecture, so we have established a connection between his house and this building," commented the curator, who added that this relationship between the Florida mansion and this legendary Malaga palace was the starting point from which the retrospective exhibition idea was conceived.

In that house on the Atlantic shore Versace lived surrounded by Picassos - he came to own 26 works of art by this Malaga-born artist. Picasso was the artist he most admired and whom he had met at the age of 27. Now Versace's life's work and designs will be exhibited near the birthplace and museum of his favourite painter, making good what the couturier himself once said: "When I am not here, you can find me in my work." This is true for him and for his beloved Picasso.