What fashion designer was shot dead in the summer of 1997?

Gianni Versace (born Giovanni Maria Versace; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer and founder of Versace, an international fashion house, which produces accessories,fragrances, make-up, and home furnishings as well as clothes. He also designed costumes for the theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton, Diana, Princess of Wales, Naomi Campbell, Duran Duran, Madonna, Elton John, Cher, Sting, and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world. Openly homosexual, Versace and his partner Antonio D'Amico were regulars on the international party scene. Versace was murdered outside his Miami Beachhome, the former Casa Casuarina now known as "The Villa," at the age of 50 by Andrew Cunanan.

Versace was shot on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion as he returned from a morning walk on Ocean Drive. Usually, Versace would have an assistant from his home walk to the coffee shop to receive his morning papers, but on this morning he was in high spirits and took the chore upon himself. He was murdered by Andrew Cunanan, who used the same gun to commit suicide on a boat eight days later.

Versace's body was cremated and his ashes returned to the family's estate near Cernobbio, Italy, and buried in the family vault at Moltrasio cemetery near Lake Como.