"Creativity is born in the conflict of ideas"
- Donatella Versace
The Versace Family
The Versace family has always been associated with fashion. Donatella and Gianni Versace's mother, Francesca, as a dress designer, instilled in her children a love for fashion and art in a truly Italian style. Donatella was born on May 2, 1955, in Reggio di Calabria in southern Italy, as the youngest of four siblings. Despite the poor economic situation prevailing in the south of the country, the Versaces were a wealthy family - Donatella's father, Antonio, took care of the well-being of the family, managing the financial affairs of local elites. It was thanks to these contacts with Calabrian aristocracy that Francesca Versace could fulfill her professional dreams by designing exquisite creations for wealthy clients.
The Versaces, like a true Italian family, maintained very close relationships. However, Donatella always felt a particularly deep bond with her brother Gianni, who followed in their mother's footsteps and began to conquer the world of high fashion. Many people claim that Donatella lived her brother's life for years. Therefore, it is not surprising that Gianni's brutal murder in 1997 was a severe blow to Donatella, with which she still struggles.
Fashion and Milan
Donatella, as she herself admits, was a rebellious and spoiled teenager. At the age of 12, the first blond streaks appeared in her hair. Shortly after, inspired by the image of Cleopatra, she began to use black eyeliner, highlighting her eyes heavily. As she said about herself - as a sister of a budding fashion genius and a daughter of a designer - she was always the best-dressed girl in town. These fashion experiments did not appeal to her teachers, and at the age of 14, she was suspended from school for her controversial appearance. Thus began the formation of the characteristic and still unchanged image of Donatella Versace.
In 1977, Miss Versace decided to move to Florence and begin linguistic studies. However, her academic career did not last too long, as in 1979 she joined her brother Gianni in Milan, becoming his right hand and the support of his fashion brand. As her brother emphasized, she was his greatest muse, but also the only person who could criticize his creativity or business dealings. In practice, Donatella was responsible for the company's PR and marketing, as well as... maintaining key business contacts with her influential and recognized friends, such as Madonna or Elizabeth Hurley.
After years of collaboration, Gianni Versace decided to appreciate his sister's endless dedication and sacrifice by putting her at the helm of one of his brands: Versace Versus.
Life and death of Gianni Versace
The real test of managing a large fashion brand for Donatella was the early 90s, when Gianni was struggling with cancer. The designer backed away from running the business and took a backseat, leaving the de facto management of the company to his siblings, Donatella and Santo. Santo was more responsible for the financial rather than the creative part of the business. Although Gianni was not able to beat the disease, his career was brutally interrupted in 1997, when he was shot on his own property in Miami, Florida. The death of her brother shook Donatella, who until then had safely stayed in his shadow. However, she could not let the brand collapse. Interestingly, the risk carried by cancer led Gianni to draw up a clever will, in which he managed the division of the Versace business. To avoid a potential conflict between Donatella and Santo, Gianni left 50 percent of the company's shares to Donatella's first daughter, Allegra. Thus, Donatella gained 20 percent, and her brother 30 percent of the Versace empire. Since Allegra was only 11 at the time of the will's execution, Donatella felt that the responsibility for the Versace inheritance lay on her shoulders. And so, in 1997, Donatella Versace became the artistic director of the Versace brand.
Rise and fall of Versace
Managing the globally recognized Versace brand has not always been easy. Although Donatella tried to fully assume the role of her brother, she could not cope with the pressure from the environment. Convinced that she could not equal Gianni's design talent, by the end of the 90s, she let herself be drawn into the dark side of show business, becoming addicted to partying and cocaine. The brand also suffered financially. The Versace family, fighting to maintain its market position, employed management specialists who were supposed to help pull the empire out of the impasse. Despite strenuous efforts, successive CEOs resigned, unable to reach an agreement with Donatella and Santo. However, in 2014, Versace sold 20 percent of its shares to the Blackstone Group for a profit.
After overcoming her inner demons, Donatella decided to invite other designers to collaborate. In 2009, Christopher Kane was tasked to refresh the Versus Versace brand. The designer worked with Donatella until 2012, when his place was taken by JW Anderson. Donatella also returned to creative work on collections for other Versace brands, creating beautiful couture creations designed for the most important red carpets in Hollywood.
Donatella's style
Donatella's original and dark image has always been controversial. Platinum blond hair, eyes heavily emphasized with black eyeliner, orange tan, and visible, numerous plastic surgeries of Donatella have often been subjected to public criticism. However, the designer's original style makes the collections she creates stand out in terms of form and character against the prevailing trends in fashion. The Versace brand has been associated with rock 'n' roll style fashion from the very beginning. At the beginning of the 90s, Gianni's collections resembled more the fashion from a sex shop than the 5th Avenue style - ubiquitous leather straps, daring corsets, and collars. Versace loved to design for runway stars. He believed that the brand's popularity could be gained primarily through collaboration with the most recognizable faces from the front rows of magazines. Some even claim that it was Versace who was responsible for creating the world's first supermodel cast in the 90s, which included Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Linda Evangelista, and Donatella's task was to keep them company. Although the Versace style has transformed over the years, its rock 'n' roll roots are still visible.
"When creating a collection, I never look back. I want to be contemporary and modern" says Donatella. Each of Donatella's collections can be defined by one word: "avant-garde". The designer, wanting to stay relevant in the market, always looks forward when creating her collections and never looks back.
