Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955) 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-u ...

, founder of the luxury fashion company

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as ...

, 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 creative officer. 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 ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

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

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 Patty Pravo (born Nicoletta Strambelli on 9 April 1948) 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 popularity in the followin ...

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

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. On the weekends she would commute to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

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 only ever interested in a career in the fashion 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 employed as vice president, although 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 mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

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; "I don't look at the clothes with my eyes, I look through images – a picture, or a video" and she is often cited with 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 danc ...

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 Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, is an American property built in 1930, renowned for being owned by and the place of the murder of the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace; he lived there from 1992 until his death in 1997. It ...

, also known as Versace Mansion, in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. 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. Her brother, Santo Versace, inherited 30% of Versace upon Gianni's death and her daughter, Allegra Versace, inherited 50%. Gianni Versace's book The Art of Being You, published posthumously in 1997, includes a dedication to Gianni from Donatella and Santow 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 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. A member of the Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxurious hotels in the world. T ...

. 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 (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Donatella has designed advertising campaigns for Versace that included Madonna,

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, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera (; ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and television personality. Known for her four-octave vocal range and ability to sustain high notes, she has been referred to as the " Voice of ...

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films ''Michael Collins'' (1996), '' Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus'' (1999), '' Bend It Like ...

Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After making her film debut in 1981, Moore appeared on the soap opera '' General Hospital'' (1982–1984) and subsequently gained recognition as a member of the Br ...

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

, Beyoncé and

January Jones January Kristen Jones (born January 5, 1978) is an American actress and model. She played Betty Draper in ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and a Pr ...

. She designed the Green Versace dress of Jennifer Lopez, also known as the "Jungle-Dress", which was worn by Lopez at the

42nd Grammy Awards The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main ...

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 de ...

.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 Palazzo Versace is a luxury hotel located by the Southport Broadwater in Main Beach, and Marina Mirage shopping centre at Southport Spit on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The hotel was constructed by the Sunland Group on the site of ...

resort on the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, 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: *Cars of the original Mini series called the "Mini Cooper", made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors 1961–1971, and 1990–2000 *Cars of the Mini (marque), including a number of different models produced ...

for the Life Ball. In September 2017, Donatella Versace set up a tribute show dedicated to her brother. 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 ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

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 fought a

cocaine addiction Cocaine dependence is a neurological disorder that is characterized by withdrawal symptoms upon cessation from cocaine use. It also often coincides with cocaine addiction which is a biopsychosocial disorder characterized by persistent use of coc ...

for 18 years, until 2005. A heavy smoker, she 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 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 awa ...

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

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

and the

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The ...

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.

Philanthropy

Donatella 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 rock 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 a ...

. Alongside supermodel

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

, in 1998 Versace organized a benefit fashion show in support of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, raising thousands of dollars for the charity. In the same year, Versace staged a charity fashion show during the Fire & Ice Ball in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

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 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 (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

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 public tertiary art school in London, England. It is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London. It offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of shor ...

, with funds going towards new equipment for the college.

In popular culture

Versace made a

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

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'' television ...

''. In '' The Devil Wears Prada'', her name was mentioned sporadically. At the 42nd Grammy Awards (2000), Jennifer Lopez wore the Green Jungle Dress which became an international point of attention, being highly publicised in the media. It was designed by Donatella 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, 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 on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. In the ABC series ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

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

Gina Gershon Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress. She has had roles in the films ''Cocktail'' (1988), ''Red Heat'' (1988), '' Showgirls'' (1995), '' Bound'' (1996), '' Face/Off'' (1997), '' The Insider'' (1999), '' Demonlover'' (2002 ...

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

House of Versace ''House of Versace'' is a 2013 Canadian biographical drama television film directed by Sara Sugarman and starring Gina Gershon. Based on the 2010 biography ''House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival'' by Deborah Ball, i ...

'', released in 2013. Lady Gaga wrote the song "Donatella" from her album ''

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'' (2013) for her. The plot of

season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * '' 2econd Season'' See also

* {{disambig ...

of the television series ''

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

'' 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. Known for her roles in films of several genres, particularly those in the Spanish language, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British ...

. 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, Donatella took part in an onstage skit alongside musicians Dua Lipa and Megan Thee Stallion at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Dua and Megan came to the stage in matching black floor-length gowns before Donatella 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 and

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...

at the 1998 VMAs.

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