Auction features shirts off Versace's back

RICCIONE, Italy, May 23 (UPI) -- Clothes worn by the late Italian designer Gianni Versace will be sold during a charity auction that will mark the 10th anniversary of his death.

The sale is organized by Antonio D'Amico, who was Versace's partner and business associate for 11 years, the Italian news service ANSA reported Wednesday. Proceeds from the June 14 auction at the Adriatic resort of Riccione will be donated to a children's home in Milan.

The designer was shot to death in front of his Miami mansion June 15, 1997.

Items to be auctioned are "colored shirts with baroque or Miami-style prints, leather and silk waistcoats that we used to give each other when we were on holiday," D'Amico said.

The auction would be the highlight of a gala evening designed to remember and celebrate Versace's memory, D'Amico said.

Versace has been called the "rock 'n' roll designer," whose clientele included Madonna, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen, George Michael, Eric Clapton, Elton John and Michael Jackson. He also made clothes for Britain's Princess Diana and Monaco's Princess Caroline.