Donatella Versace

DONATELLA V E R SA C E She talks about clothes,

Inclusivity, DIVERSITY ,Sexuality

5 Things

you need to know about Versace

and insecurities.

Donatella Versace is designing

Britney

Spears her couture bridal gown, ahead of her wedding with Sam Asghari.

VE RSA SE at the Grammy 2022

Who Is Donatella Versace?

Donatella Versace grew up with two major fashion influences: her mother was a dressmaker and her older brother, Gianni Versace, was a budding designer. She went to work for her brother in the late 1970s, serving as his muse and adviser. Donatella Versace became the designer for the company’s Versus line in the 1980s. After her brother was murdered in 1997, she became artistic director of the Versace Group.

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orn on May 2, 1955, in Reggio Calabria, Italy,de signer Donatella Versace is one of the best-known names in fashion today. She is the younger sister of the late designer Gianni Versace. Donatella and Gianni learned about designing from their mother, who had a dressmaking business.

“I was the baby of the family,” she later explained to The New Yorker. “I was so spoiled. I was the best-dressed little girl in the city.”

Versace began developing her trademark look like a teenager — dying her hair platinum blonde and using dark eyeliner. She was remarkably close to her older brother, Gianni, who would take her out with him at night and make outfits for her to wear. Donatella attended a university in Florence for a time, but she eventually

reunited with Gianni to support his clothing business.Donatella Versace has headed the fashion house bearing her name since the murder of her elder brother Gianni, its founder, in 1997.

But she has been involved since the very beginning, working alongside him on collections and campaigns. Throughout its history, Versace has been known for taking an unapologetic stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion, and for the diversity of its ‘faces’, which have included figures such as Prince and Tupac, who modelled in a Versace advertising campaign and fashion show, respectively. For Spring/Summer 2021, Versace included diversity in body shape for the first time, casting models Precious Lee, Alva Claire and Jill Kortleve. “Fashion reflects the world we live in,” Donatella says. “Today that world is so different from the one we knew even six months ago.”

Donatella: Gianni’s Fashion Muse When Gianni started his own fashion company in Milan in 1978, Donatella was right there by his side. Their brother, Santo, was also a part of the business. Gianni relied on Donatella for her advice about his designs, and she played an important role in orchestrating many Versace fashion shows and advertising campaigns.

She helped bring some rock ‘n’ roll spirit and celebrity cache to the line through her friendships with Madonna and Elizabeth Hurley.

Versace also served as chief designer for the company’s Versus line. She learned even more about the business in the mid-1990s, when she took on a larger role while Gianni battled cancer.

Gianni’s health scare prompted the Versace siblings to work on a company succession plan. Gianni won his fight against cancer but would lose his life tragically in 1997 when he was shot outside his home in Miami, Florida. The murderer, Andrew Cunanan, had gone on a cross-country killing spree, prior to fatally shooting Versace and ultimately committing suicide.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of Versace Empire

Donatella was devastated by the death of her brother but was determined to carry on his legacy. Days after Gianni’s death, Donatella was announced as Versace’s

artistic director. By this time, though, she had already taken a leading role in the business. “The last two years of Gianni’s life,” Donatella explained to New York magazine, “I was going up into his apartment, showing him the work, getting the approval from him, but I ran the company because he wasn’t showing himself. It was like a year and a half I did everything.”

Donatella has led the company’s design vision ever since, helping to reinvigorate its product lines over the years. In 2009, she brought in Christopher Kane to design for Versus and reinvent the brand. After his departure, Versace collaborated with other upcoming designers on the line, also revamping the company’s haute couture line Atelier Versace. Today, Versace markets a variety of product lines, from home goods to perfume, clothing and furniture, and operates two hotels.

“We love and believe in La Greca so much that we have put it on everything, from bags to clothing, to pieces of furniture and textiles,” Donatella affirms.

“It is very Versace and I am sure it will become a loved and iconic symbol of the house. La Greca quickly became the protagonist of the AW21 collection and it is here to stay as a new pillar of the brand.

Versace’s Husband & Family Versace married former model Paul Beck in 1986. The couple had two children together, Allegra (b. 1986) and Daniel (b. 1989), before divorcing. Their son was named after a song by Elton John, a close family friend. Known for her wild partying lifestyle, Versace battled drug addiction after her brother’s death. “I couldn’t stand the pain,” she told Vogue. “I had to hide my feelings. What better way to hide your feelings than with drugs?” After struggling with cocaine addiction for many years, Versace sought treatment in 2004.As part of Gianni’s will, Donatella’s daughter Allegra was given 50 percent of the company’s stake. When she turned 18 in 2004, Allegra inherited her claim, an estimated $500 million. She currently serves as a company director and is also a theatrical dressmaker residing in New York City.

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“Versace is a dream,” Donatella says.

“It’s a dream that people want to be part of.”

“The collection is one where aesthetics have been put at the service of functionality; a collection that is like a zip that acts as a bridge between past and present. It is a very Versace collection, where each piece has a strong soul. We all love contamination and functionality. If I have to mention the most important elective affinity, I think it can be expressed in the meeting of clean lines — in the geometry that reflects the tailored cut — with the contrast of materials, colours and details that surprise you when you look at an object.”

For the Palombas, working with Donatella was a tour de force. “It was like two oceans that meet; having her input and her guide to transfer the brand’s codes into the home collection that was an interpreter of design values and at the same time respectful of the brand itself was a great deal for us,” they say. On the combined creative journey, Donatella says: “They wanted to see the books, the old advertising campaigns as well as the path of the brand over the years. Much research was done before arriving at the final product. We talked about the aesthetics and evolution of Versace in the past few years, how the story is part of a much broad-

er and never intrusive narrative, the use of iconic symbols such as La Greca and the meaning that the archive has for Versace, but also how I adapted the concept of Medusa for today’s world.”

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Things you need to know about

V E R S A CE

1.In an interview with Vogue, Donatella revealed that most people have been pronouncing Versace wrong. She says that

It’s ‘Versachee’ not ‘Versach-eh.

Versace is fur free 2.

They no longer use fur. Versace phased fur out of its products starting in 2019, saying they were not interested in killing animals to make fashion. This decision came in wake of other fashion brands going fur free like Gucci.

The Versace family faced tough times 3.

Gianni Versace shocked the world when he was shot and

killed in 1997 outside his Miami mansion by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. After he died, his family members inherited Versace. Donatella became the new face of the brand and guided the company into the 2000s.

Their logo is tied to Greek mythology 3.

The fashis the Greek Medusa as the to make They have

ion brand’s logo head of Medusa, a mythological figure. was chosen by Versace logo because of her power people fall in love with her. hoped their clothing would the same effect on people.

They have innovative fashion ideas 5.

Versace is known for stunning the world with its fashion designs. They often mix unusual materials with bright colors, leading to designs that ooze innovation. Versace’s tribute collections like the Native American or Pop Up collections are a great example of this.

“Life is difficult. ‘Happiness’ is a word I do not believe exists.”

—Donatella Versace

Britney Spears’s Wedding Dress Is Being Designed by Versace

The friendship between singer Britney Spears and Italian designer Donatella Versace goes back more than 20 years. Over the past two decades, the two have supported one another, both publicly and privately. The American pop star has worn Versace designs on tours, at stage performances (such as the one she did with Michael Jackson in 2011), on the red carpet and in her private life. She has also attended Versace fashion shows.

Meanwhile the designer, who is the sister of the late Gianni Versace, has strongly supported Spears’ battle to be released from a legal conservatorship that allowed the singer’s father, Jamie Spears, complete legal control over her finances and day-to-day existence from its signing in 2008 – a fight she won last November.

Now the friendship has gone one step further, with Donatella Versace travelled to Los Angeles to meet with Spears in person. The fashion icon visited the singer at her home and met with her boyfriend of four years, Sam Asghari.

Spears shared many photos of the visit on her Instagram account (with 40 million followers) that were reshared by Versace on her own account (with nearly eight million followers).

“Look who came to visit… these two bad bitches are up to no good,” Spears captioned one of her posts. “It was so nice to see you again,” Versace responded on her own account.

But beyond a friendly visit, could there have been another purpose for the trip? A few months after Spears announced her engagement to Asghari, she posted photos of herself in a semi-sheer pink gown, prompting some to ask if this was going to be her wedding dress. Spears’ response was clear. “No…this is not my wedding dress bahahah!!!!” she wrote on Instagram.

“Donatella Versace is making my dress as we speak.”

Versace’s visit on Sunday could therefore have been the first meeting about the design for the dress. In the photos shared on Instagram, Spears appears in two different tops, suggesting she changed her outfit during Versace’s visit. The 66-year-old designer also appears with and without a jacket, which also hints it was not a brief stay.

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April 3, 2022, in Las Vegas.

FAS HION

Shows & COL

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Donatella at the Fall 2022 Ready-to -wear fashion show

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Donatella Versace, Gigi and Bella Hadid pose in platform heels for Versace spring-summer 2022 campaign in 2022

Ver sac e R e s ort collection 2022

Prefall 2022 Menswear

SA C E

It’s

‘Versachee’ not ‘Versach-eh.

V E R SA C E