Giorgio Armani Pens Preface Versace Biography

Giorgio Armani wrote about Gianni Versace in the preface of the reissue of "Gianni Versace. La Biografia."  The late designer's biography, by journalist Tony di Corcia, was first published in 2010.

"Fifteen years after his death, what I remember of Gianni Versace? His incredible exuberance, a sense of happiness that mixes everything - ideas, trends, memories, art - with a sort of nonchalant vitality. He was a great creator," Armani wrote.  The book comes out this Thursday.

Armani established his fashion house in 1975, only three years before Versace and described how they were both spurred by their rivalry.

"The Italian mentality feeds on contradictions: from [bike aces] Coppi/Bartali to Gina Lollobrigida/Sophia Loren. Armani and Versace were perfect for this game," Armani wrote. "But to be honest we didn't know each other very well, being so absorbed in our work […] even if we would have never admitted that, we were curious about each other and at the end of each show we used to ask: "What did Versace do?" and "What did Armani do?"