Gianni Versace, during the 1970s, asked Sergio Rossi for his collaboration. This partnership was quickly adopted by the booming world of Milanese fashion. He soon became the designers' favorite. They had noticed his exceptional eye, his acute sense of what was in the air, or rather, of what would be. Sergio Rossi became their privileged partner. In Milan, during the shows, everyone would ask him to select shoes for the models on the catwalks, and he could hardly keep up with the demand. He even had to turn down some of the numerous requests he was presented with. Versace was among those to whom he said yes.

The brand became closely linked to some of the leading design houses in the fashion industry, producing shoes for the collections of Dolce & Gabbana (from 1989 to 1999) or Azzedine Alaïa for example.