Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955), sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up ...

, founder of the luxury fashion company

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury elite fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as well as '' haute couture'' under it ...

, with whom she worked closely on the development of the brand and in particular its combining of Italian luxury with pop culture and celebrity. Upon Gianni's death in 1997, she inherited a portion of the Versace brand and became its creative director. She is currently the brand's chief brand ambassador. Along with her brother Gianni, she is widely credited for the supermodel phenomenon of the 1990s by casting editorial models on the runway.

Early life and education

Donatella Versace was born in

Reggio di Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As of 2025, it has 168,572 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the youngest of four children; her siblings were Santo, Gianni, and Tina. Her father, Antonio Versace, helped run the family coal mining business, and her mother, Francesca Versace (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Olandese), was a seamstress for a fashion company before setting up her own fashion boutique. Her older sister, Tina, died at the age of 12 from an improperly treated

tetanus Tetanus (), also known as lockjaw, is a bacterial infection caused by ''Clostridium tetani'' and characterized by muscle spasms. In the most common type, the spasms begin in the jaw and then progress to the rest of the body. Each spasm usually l ...

infection. Always close to her brother Gianni, Donatella was persuaded by him to dye her hair blonde at 11 years old in honor of the Italian singer

Patty Pravo Nicoletta Strambelli (born 9 April 1948), known professionally as Patty Pravo, is an Italian singer. She debuted in 1966 and remained most successful commercially for the rest of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Having suffered a decline in p ...

, of whom he was a big fan. In the mid-1970s, Donatella studied literature and languages in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. On the weekends, she would commute to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to work with Gianni, who was working at the Callaghan fashion label.Cathy Horyn
La Bella Donatella
''Vanityfair.com'', 1 June 1997 Donatella's mother did not approve, wanting her to focus instead on her studies, and would check up on Donatella with surprise visits to Florence.Ariel Levy
Summer for the Sun Queen
''Nymag.com'', 17 August 2006

Career

Donatella was always interested only in a career in the fashion and model industry, stating; "I knew I was going to work in fashion; I really didn't think of nothing else." In 1976, Donatella and Santo joined their brother Gianni in Milan. The three travelled to the United States in 1977 on a three-week tour in search of press and overseas buyers in anticipation of starting the Versace brand. The Versace brand was established in 1978, with Donatella as vice president. She collaborated with Gianni across all projects, especially in styling, creating the brand image, and designing the brand's accessories, shoes, and handbags. In 1982, Gianni sent Donatella to an auction where she placed the winning bid on the palazzo at Via Gesù 12 in Milan which would become the Versace headquarters and showroom. Donatella is widely considered to have been both a creative partner and

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

to Gianni. In 1989, Gianni dedicated the new Blonde perfume to Donatella, and entrusted the Versus diffusion line to her – gifting her a yellow diamond ring to mark the occasion. During 1996 and early 1997, with Gianni Versace recovering from a cancer of the left ear, Donatella took over much of the decision-making for the Versace brand. Versace has described her approach to design as being rooted in images, saying "I don't look at the clothes with my eyes, I look through images – a picture, or a video." She is often cited as developing the Versace look. Donatella worked with fashion photographer

Richard Avedon Richard Avedon (May 15, 1923 – October 1, 2004) was an American fashion and portrait photographer. He worked for ''Harper's Bazaar'', '' Vogue'' and '' Elle'' specializing in capturing movement in still pictures of fashion, theater and ...

on the Spring-Summer 1980 campaign shoot, his first for the brand, and would art direct Avedon on the Spring-Summer 1993 campaign. Gianni was murdered on 15 July 1997, outside the re-constructed Casa Casuarina, also known as Versace Mansion, in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In the aftermath of the highly publicized crime and manhunt, most of the Versace family, including Donatella, moved temporarily to a secluded private resort in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

. Her brother, Santo Versace, inherited 30% of Versace upon Gianni's death and her daughter,

Allegra Versace Allegra Versace Beck (; born 30 June 1986), commonly known as Allegra Versace, is an Italian-American heiress and socialite. Since 2011, Allegra has been a director of Gianni Versace S.p.A. and has worked in New York City as a theatrical dre ...

, inherited 50%. Gianni Versace's book ''The Art of Being You'', published posthumously in 1997, includes a dedication to Gianni from Donatella and Santo which reads "This book is a tribute to a great artist himself, to someone who lived with an incredible love for art, to a very special person who was always fascinated by art and artists and always supported them, our brother Gianni". On 18 July 1998, one year and three days after Gianni's death, Donatella Versace mounted her first

haute couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

show for the Versace Atelier at the

Hôtel Ritz Paris The Ritz Paris is a hotel in central Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arrondissement. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxur ...

. She built her runway over the hotel's swimming pool, as her brother had done every season, though this time using sheer glass. From October 2002 to January 2003, Gianni and Donatella's best known Versace clothing was displayed in a special exhibit of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Donatella has designed advertising campaigns for Versace that included

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...

, Jonathan Rhys Meyers,

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

and January Jones. She designed the green Versace dress of

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, also known as the "Jungle-Dress", which was worn by Lopez at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000. In 2015, she appeared in the AW15 ad campaign of its direct competitor

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert d ...

.Jess Cartner-Morley
Donatella Versace: "My brother was the king, and my whole world had crashed around me"
''Theguardian.com'', 14 September 2017 Donatella designed the Palazzo Versace Australia resort on the

Gold Coast, Queensland The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, GC, is a coastal city and region in the state of Queensland, Australia, located approximately south-southeast of the centre of the list of Australian capital cities, state capital, Brisbane. It is ...

, Australia, which opened in September 2000, and played a major role in the design of the Palazzo Versace Dubai, the second Palazzo Versace hotel, which opened in November 2016. She also designed a

Mini Cooper Mini Cooper may refer to: *Performance Cars of the original Mini series with uprated drive train and brakes, called the "Mini Cooper", made by the British Motor Corporation and also the successors 1961–1971, and 1990–2000 *Cars of the Mini (mar ...

car for the

Life Ball The Life Ball in Vienna is the biggest charity event in Europe supporting people with HIV or AIDS. The event is organized by the nonprofit organization AIDS LIFE, which was founded in 1992 by Gery Keszler and Torgom Petrosian. AIDS LIFE suppo ...

. In September 2017, Donatella Versace set up a tribute show dedicated to her brother. On March 12, 2025, after almost 28 years as CEO of the Versace brand, she announced her departure, a position she will hold until the summer when

Dario Vitale Dario Vitale (born 1983) is an Italian fashion designer. He will be the creative director of Versace from April 2025, after Donatella Versace steps down at the end of March. Vitale was born in 1983 near Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the ...

, the former design and image director of Italian brand

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy. Silvia Onofri is its CEO. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 ...

will take over. Versace and her former husband, American

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

Paul Beck have two children: daughter Allegra Versace Beck (born 30 June 1986), and son Daniel Versace Beck (born 1989). Her marriage with Paul Beck ended in 2000. She was addicted to cocaine for 18 years until 2005. She was a heavy smoker, but quit in 2014.Jacob Bernstein
Donatella Versace Has Long Been a Gay Icon. Now It's Official.
''Nytimes.com'', 29 June 2019

Awards

*1996:

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

Diamonds International Award for her design of a gold and diamond tiara, produced by Gianni Versace. *2004: Bambi Award for Fashion *2005: World Fashion Award as Designer of the Year, at the

Women's World Award Winners of the Women's World Award, sponsored by the World Awards organization headed by former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, intended for women who have influenced the world by their work in areas such as society or politics. The aw ...

s *2007: Honored along with Gianni Versace by The City of

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

and the

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive () is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is a ...

Committee for their contributions to the fashion world with a Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award. *2008: FGI Superstar Award. *2008: Honorary chairman of Fashion Fringe *2009: Honorary chairman of Fashion Fringe for the second year running *2010: Woman of the Year by '' Glamour'' *2012: Speaker at the Oxford Union. *2012, 2016: Fashion Designer of the Year by '' Glamour'' *2017: Fashion Icon of the Year award by the British Fashion Council *2018: First woman to be named as the Designer of the Year at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in the UK and in China. *2018: International CFDA Award *2018: Fashion Icon award at GQ Awards Berlin. *2023: Humanitarian Award for Equity and Inclusivity at the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italia Sustainable Fashion Awards. *2024: Game Changer Honor at the Green Carpet Fashion Awards (GCFA).

Philanthropy

Versace has been involved in several charitable causes. In 1993, Donatella and Gianni Versace published the book ''South Beach Stories'' and donated all proceeds to ANLAIDS. She continues to be a patron of the

Elton John AIDS Foundation The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) is a nonprofit organization, established by musician Sir Elton John in 1992 in the United States and 1993 in the United Kingdom to support innovative HIV prevention, education programs, direct care and s ...

. Alongside supermodel

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is a British supermodel. Beginning her career at the age of eight, Campbell was one of six models of her generation declared supermodels by the fashion industry and the international press. She was th ...

, in 1998 Versace organized a benefit fashion show in support of the

Nelson Mandela Children's Fund The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) is a charitable organisation founded by Nelson Mandela, based in South Africa. Its mission is to help individuals from birth to age 22.California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to raise funds for the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program. The ball raised $1.8million for the charity. In 2008, Versace staged its first fashion show in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

as part of a charity fund-raiser auction and dinner as part of a yearlong partnership in benefit of the Jet Li One Foundation to open children's centers for post-trauma and psychological relief in China's

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province, following an earthquake in the region. As part of the collaboration, Donatella designed a Versace/One Foundation logo and limited-edition merchandise. In 2010, Versace contributed £20,000 to the 20:20 Fashion Fund of the London fashion college,

Central Saint Martins Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

, with funds going towards new equipment for the college. In 2021, £200,000 were donated by Donatella and her daughter to help during the pandemic of COVID-19. The donation went to the San Raffaele Hospital's intensive care in Milan, Italy.

In popular culture

Versace made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in ''

Zoolander ''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' televisi ...

''. In '' The Devil Wears Prada'', her name was mentioned sporadically. At the 42nd Grammy Awards (2000),

wore the Green Jungle Dress, which became an international point of attention, being highly publicised in the media. It was designed by Versace herself and Lopez has the original dress currently with her at her estate. The dress worn by Lopez remains the reason for the creation of

Google Images Google Images (previously Google Image Search) is a search engine owned by Gsuite that allows users to search the World Wide Web for images. It was introduced on July 12, 2001, due to a demand for pictures of the green Versace dress of Jennif ...

, and is known to have been downloaded over 600,000 times within 24 hours of the Grammy's night. In 2019, Lopez wore the dress for the first time since 2001 for the Versace Milan Fashion Show. Versace was parodied several times by

Maya Rudolph Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress and comedian. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). During her tenure on the show, she appeared in supporting roles in ...

on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

''. In the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

series ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'', a fictional character called Fabia, played by actress

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (; born June 10, 1962) is an American actress and singer. She has starred in such films as ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat'' (1988), '' Showgirls'' (1995), '' Bound'' (1996), '' Face/Off'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Dem ...

, is a parody of Versace. Gershon also played Versace as the lead role in the Lifetime television film '' House of Versace'', released in 2013.

wrote the song "Donatella" from her album '' Artpop'' (2013) for her. The plot of

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album by Unk, 2008 * "Season 2", a song by Phoenix from ''Alpha Zulu ''Alpha Zulu'' is the seventh studio album by French indie pop band Phoenix, released on 4 ...

of the television series ''

American Crime Story ''American Crime Story'' is an American biographical crime drama anthology television series developed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who are also executive producers, alongside Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, Ryan Murphy, and Bra ...

'' recounts the murder of Donatella's brother Gianni. She is portrayed by

Penélope Cruz Penélope Cruz Sánchez (born 28 April 1974) is a Spanish actress. Prolific in Spanish and English-language films, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, a David di Donatello and three Goya Awards. Cru ...

. She criticized the authenticity of the TV series, stating that she was with Madonna when the murder occurred, a moment that is not in the pictures. In 2022, Versace took part in an onstage skit alongside musicians

Dua Lipa Dua Lipa ( ; born22 August 1995) is an English and Albanian singer, songwriter and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Dua Lipa, Her accolades include seven Brit Awards and three Grammy Awards. Lipa worked as a model before v ...

and

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Megan initially gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social me ...

at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

. Dua and Megan came to the stage in matching black floor-length gowns before Versace joined them on the stage and unclipped a part of each dress to reveal different looks. The moment was a tribute to a skit between

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

at the 1998 VMAs. Also in 2022, Donatella's team assisted with making Cardi B's shiny gold chain outfit for the Met Gala. This dress took around 20 people to make, with each chain being hand embroidered. In 2023, Versace designed a strapless safety pin dress with white tweed, pearl accents and camellia flower details which was worn by

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...

at the

Met Gala The Met Gala, formally called the Costume Institute Benefit, is the annual haute couture fundraising festival held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in Manhattan. The Met Gala was and still is popularly rega ...

. The character Donatello Versus in '' Stone Ocean'', Part 6 of the ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' manga, is named after her.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Versace, Donatella 1955 births Fashion designers from Milan Italian fashion designers Living people People from Reggio Calabria People of Calabrian descent Italian women fashion designers Versace family