words by Carol King
Pop star Lady Gaga is looking to buy a property in Milan according to Italian media reports.
Magazine ‘Di Tutto’ reports that the songstress wants to buy a place near 12 Via Gesù – the apartment where Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace lived and worked. Lady Gaga dined with the woman now at the helm of the Versace fashion empire, Donatella Versace, at the Versace palazzo on the evening of 1 October when the singer played in Milan during her ‘The Born This Way Ball’ tour. The women are said to have become friends and the fashion house created most of the costumes the fashion icon wore for her tour.
‘Di Tutto’ suggests that if Donatella and Lady Gaga become neighbours they could collaborate on the birth of an Italian offshoot of ‘Haus of Gaga’. Inspired by Andy Warhol’s Manhattan studio ‘The Factory’ and named in homage to the Bauhaus design style of early 20th century Germany, ‘Haus of Gaga’ is a group of creatives responsible for Lady Gaga’s clothing, make up and hairstyles. Its fashion director is Italian-Japanese designer and stylist Nicola Formichetti, who is creative director for the Parisian fashion house MUGLER. ‘Haus of Gaga’ has been said to “bring performance art into the mainstream”.
This is not the first time the superstar’s love affair with Italy has hit the news. In February, reports suggested she was looking for an Italian man as a potential sperm donor to have a child by artificial insemination. Then in September there was gossip that she is looking to marry her boyfriend, Taylor Kinney, in Italy. Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga’s love for all things Italian indicates she has not forgotten her Italian heritage.
Should Lady Gaga buy a pad in Milan she may be able to get a bargain because a crash in the Italian housing market means that house prices in Milan have dropped by 26%. A house in the city would also be far away enough to avoid bumping into her rival, pop star Madonna, who is rumoured to be eyeing up properties in Rome.
