Today in news that would surely make Gianni Versace roll over in his grave, the parent company of mass-market jeans label Jordache is looking to seize Casa Casuarina, the 23,400-square-foot Miami mansion where the late fashion designer lived until his death in 1997. Ever the real estate investor, VM South Beach owns the hotel across the street, having acquired it in July; now, it's claiming that Casa Casuarina owner Peter Loftin has been defaulting on the property's $25M mortgage for a year now, hoping to swoop in and scoop it out from under him. Loftin bought the place in 2000, turning it into an exclusive high-end hotel that recently closed thanks to the Ponzi-scheming ways of one of its investors—but not before pimping out the opportunity to spend time in Versace's lavish old boudoir for $10,000/night. Even if this place turns into mom-jeans central, there's always the utterly over-the-top Palazzo Versace, a hotel/residential complex set to open this year in Dubai, for the brand to rest its laurels on.
· Jordache wants to foreclose on former Versace mansion [Biz Journals]
· Inside the Opulent, Over-the-Top Versace Wonderland [Curbed National]