Ever image-conscious, she would even bring the trainer on vacation with her. She is soft-spoken, small-wristed, elfin. I’m really hoping that, with everything the country has gone through, that you’re able to continue that tradition. J.Lo definitely does. One of her first fashion shows was for me.”. So fashion, finally, is going to change. As of May 2021, Donatella Versace, who is also a stakeholder of the Versace Company, has a whopping net worth of $1 billion. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. ", After months of lockdown, Milan had recently re-opened, with workers flooding back to offices, and Donatella Versace was happy to be back in the office (though she had picked up some Zoom skills in quarantine.) The 31-year-old is the daughter of Paul Beck and Donatella Versace – the tan, blonde charismatic figure … “We cannot forget the value of heritage, because today fashion is like, ‘Wear today; throw it away tomorrow,’ ” she says. When I have the right idea, to be able to construct a small collection around this idea, and then in two to three months you do more looks. 2,572 Hypes Fashion. At one point, she kept the same trainer for 18 years. The vision has only gotten bigger. That’s for sure. Her morning news-gathering routine goes like this: Politics first. “This kind of clash of culture, it was very interesting to me,” she says. ELLE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Something very light when it’s snowing outside; it’s ridiculous. And when it comes to her designs, she sees quality and craftsmanship as the antidote to the fast-fashion mind-set. Where are the gold Medusas? We need to be inclusive, we need to be courageous, and we need to give a chance to different people to come in, learn, and express themselves. So I don’t think that’s going away. I look for what they represent,” she says, offering Gigi Hadid, who has walked many of her shows and starred in several Versace ad campaigns, as an example. It’s going backward.”, One thing that is going forward, in a big way, is the house of Versace. Campaigns are completely changing as well, with Zoom campaigns or even avatars as models. ... Feb 25, 2020. Twenty years ago, that spirit of innovation emanated from Milan to the Hollywood red carpet and the excitement it created, inspired the team to create Google Images. That was something where, if you were in that room, it was unlike anything else, as opposed to seeing it on a screen. Fewer are creating collections designed for this customer. (“I saw her recently. “They need to be pushed to fight, because this is not right. Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. (Her brother is never far from her mind; her spring 2018 collection was a tribute to him on the twentieth anniversary of his passing, and today she’s wearing a navy sweater imprinted with his signature.). This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. Versace-er? It’s going to have different rules, if we can call those rules. Exclusive: Donatella Versace in Style.com/Print, Donatella Versace On Her New Soho Store, Working with Christopher Kane, and Starting a Band, Donatella Versace On The View…and On Maya Rudolph's Impersonation of Her, Donatella Versace On Where Fashion Goes From Here, Rihanna Is Super Polite at Versus Versace. “I think the company needs to move ahead. That’s the effect Versace has on you before you even meet her: Some people make you stand up straighter in their presence; she has a way of drawing out your inner Italian bombshell. And why not? Italy has an unbelievable tradition of quality and artisanship; the most beautiful things I own were all made in Italy! “He didn’t listen to anything I say! You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. The country is not moving forward. Check out the latest pictures, photos and images of Donatella Versace from 2020. “And then fashion, and then music, and then art.” She has a lot to say about, for example, Greta Thunberg. And she has a self-professed knack for spotting people on their way up. So quality is so important. For the Spring-Summer 2020 Collection, Donatella Versace honors an iconic moment when fashion and culture became a catalyst for technological progress. But when we opened the office and saw each other again, it was a totally different emotion. Do you think that’s something the rest of the fashion industry will get behind? We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Donatella Versace Net Worth. She sold the company to Capri Holdings (Michael Kors) in 2018, but remained its chief creative officer. For the house’s fall 1991 show, a band of mononymic glamazons—Linda, Cindy, Naomi, Christy—strutted to the strains of George Michael’s “Freedom! I’m finding a lot of women more interesting than men right now.”, Versace is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ rights; because of her brother’s legacy, she says, “I can’t not be.” Last year, she was named a Stonewall Ambassador, making the scene at New York City’s Pride March in a rainbow-sequined dress and matching go-go boots. Donatella Francesca Versace is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman and model. Is that something that you think will become more common, or again, do you think that’s just of this time? In 2018, the company was acquired by luxury group Capri Holdings, also the parent company of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo. Fashion helps a man or a woman to feel better, to feel stronger, and to feel relevant in some way. Because if this small craftsmanship business dies, fashion is dead. Donatella Versace Reveals Men’s Spring 2020 Show Details – WWD ‘I’m a Firestarter,’ Says Donatella Versace By Alessandra Turra on June 14, 2019 Looks from Versace Men's Spring 2020. That’s for sure. But it’s true. It isn’t possible to do 100 percent. ... Sep 26, 2020. I will go back to a traditional show, I think, but I’m going to put a little bit more technology into it. Below, as part of ELLE's look at the future of fashion, the designer speaks about how this moment is making her push even harder for sustainability; the drawbacks of digital shows, and why she thinks smaller, seasonless collections are the future of fashion. ELLE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2020-ready-to-wear/versace And again, I want to underline that I have been working diligently on this topic for a few years. “I wish people would fight more. Donatella Versace’s 2020 Vision Even as she celebrates two decades helming the fashion house founded by her late brother Gianni, the designer has her eyes set on a … So many designers start out modestly—the perfect white shirt, the perfect little black dress, a wide tie—and build from there. When I mention the wave of covered-up fashions that followed in the wake of the #MeToo allegations, she purrs, “Not on my runway.” She’s a firm believer that a woman should be able to dress however she likes. Donatella Versace’s tailored looks appeared on both men and women with only minor detailing, such as single versus double-breasting, differentiating the two. She imitates herself whining, not wanting to do another rep: “He didn’t listen to anything I say! “I’m here. So sustainability is what I’m going to concentrate on most. If you are a luxury brand, you do luxury clothes. Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s fashion features director. She developed a tough outer shell as a coping mechanism—not just the hair and makeup, but the whole package. “You have to have an eye to see behind the way they look. Donatella Versace attends the 2020 … We should be more free to create in the moment we have the idea. She says she keeps herself surrounded with young, creative employees, a posse of anti–yes men and women. She made her 200 million dollar fortune with Versace, Versus Versace. Or a fur, though we don’t use fur anymore. There are a lot of talented people that deserve a voice, to be seen, and given a chance. Versace was prescient, about that and other things, too. I adore her. But for example, for me, going out in Milan the first day, I felt the air was much more clean. https://www.isuwft.com/1569/donatella-versace-plastic-surgery.html What does the industry need to be doing to address that? The brand is larger than life, and so is its current figurehead. I think we are going to be out of place, showing things that are not sustainable. I don’t think I was the only person who saw that. I love that.” But despite her protestations, fitness gave her discipline and mental clarity. Has Donatella Versace had plastic surgery?Donatella Versace is a poster for NOT getting plastic surgery – There are a lot of celebrity plastic surgery nightmares out there, but few of them can come close to the absolute destruction that elastic surgeons have wreaked upon Donatella Versace over the last few decades. I’m finding a lot of women more interesting than men right now.”) While she says she didn’t face sexism when assuming her mantle at the company, she acknowledges that this is probably because “I was in a [more] privileged position” as a family member. [laughs] But I want to feel people around me. She’s a big-tent kind of girl. I think use-and-throw-away fashion, it’s finished. Versace Flash, a co-ed capsule collection. You need your team, a studio, and a photographer. Instead of doing a fashion show where you show 70 or 80 looks, I’d like to do 30 looks for men and women and do them more often. “Toned-down, that’s not me,” she shrugs. Fashion has a meaning in society. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion company Versace which she inherited a portion of upon her brother's death in 1997. Because, I mean, it was getting too predictable. If you really want to call yourself a luxury brand, a luxury brand is quality. The company was recently valued at $1.7 billion. These past three months I’ve been thinking, thinking, thinking – we have really had time to think about our jobs and about fashion. I saw the sky was finally blue. “I cannot live forever, I’m not gonna be here forever, and things change in fashion. “I was very careful about deciding something like this, which could change my life completely,” Versace says of the sale. Do you think digital shows will replace in-person shows, or do you feel that those are irreplaceable? By Pauline De Leon Sep 29, 2020. How do you recycle the water?” she says. On 2-5-1955 Donatella Versace (nickname: Donatella Versace) was born in Reggio di Calabria, Italy. Today, when so much high fashion looks like what you’d wear at a particularly progressive convent, when we’re apparently expected to don outfits that resemble scaffolding on a Brutalist building, don’t you want to be a little sexier? Véronique Hyland is ELLE’s fashion features director. We commiserate for a bit about the rollback of LGBTQ rights in the United States. At least, according to the woman herself. And now, step by step, we will get to a point when the environmental impact of fashion will be drastically reduced. All of these aspects are taken into consideration now.” She’s also taking steps in her own life. I’m the first one open to changes.”. “I met Gigi when she was 16, and she was gorgeous, of course, but she wasn’t a typical model at that moment. “I’ve always defended women. You cannot wear an outfit for [just] one or two seasons – it needs to live in your wardrobe. On Instagram, she kicked back in a pair of novelty turkey slippers (Caption: “You see...I don’t always wear high heels! Look at me: I’m not afraid, I’m not 20 years old, but I’m much better.” That’s the kind of empowerment Donatella Versace stands for. ), Her interest in politics hasn’t abated. “The power of women behind it, the power of fashion behind it, the power of putting beautiful things out into the world and celebrating beautiful moments in life—that’s what it was.”, Or in Versace’s own summary of that moment: “I’m here. The designer described the musician, who died in March this year , … Now, not 100 percent of fashion can be sustainable. She’s also been outspoken regarding the #MeToo movement. That’s the moment you should retire. So I say hello to the woman behind the curtain of pin-straight platinum-blond hair and the daytime smoky eye—who, it seems, actually is deeply introverted. Donatella Versace’s 2020 Vision Even as she celebrates two decades helming the fashion house founded by her late brother Gianni, the designer has her eyes set on a glitzy future for the bombshell brand Mickey Rourke Thriller Film Donatella Versace Screenwriting American Actors … You cannot show your clothes on Zoom. "Darling it's better, down where it's wetter" — take it from Donatella Versace. Shortly before I interview Donatella Versace, I ask my colorist to bump up my already-straining-credulity blond by a shade. Donatella Versace dedicated her spring/summer 2020 menswear show to the Progidy’s Keith Flint in Milan at the weekend. “It’s so easy to surround yourself with people who think like you, who say yes [to everything]. All of the designers realized what we want, but we couldn’t ask for it because the industry behind us wouldn’t follow us: Seasonless, smaller collections, more often. This content is imported from Instagram. People are real, also, digitally. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, See the Stylish Oscar Dress the Year You Were Born, Princess Margaret's Fashion Through the Decades, Vintage Photos of 21 Supermodels in the 1980s, Allbirds & Adidas Launched an Eco-Friendly Sneaker, Gwyneth Paltrow On How to Use the Goop Vibrator, 7 Chic Statement Accessories You Need This Summer, 40 Father's Day Gifts You Can Get On Amazon. Long before Gigi was a glimmer in Yolanda’s eye, models were sharply divided into “print” and “runway” girls, but Donatella chafed against the distinction. “I brought them to Milan, and Gianni was like”—she imitates their easy sibling back-and-forth—“She can’t walk.”, “Doesn’t matter. We had Fashion Week in September; men’s fashion week in June, and it never changed for years and years. I’m very happy about my choice, because Versace can grow faster.”, Indeed, Capri is pursuing an aggressive expansion of the brand, with plans to open dozens of stores each year. And isn’t that refreshing? “Where do you source the materials? She says she’s no longer flying private. You need to be free to, if it’s a beautiful spring day, go into the store and find something for spring, not find a coat. But there was something there: a kindness, a tenderness, the beauty inside, not just outside. So, this is my goal. The designer is currently single, her starsign is Taurus and she is now 66 years of age. Consider it my gift to you.) This article appears in the March 2020 issue of ELLE. The Versace Company’s stakes are divided between Donatella Versace, her daughter Allegra Versace and brother Santo Versace. (“That’s the most uncomfortable thing for me,” she’ll later tell me, of her own celebrity.) (In July, after this interview took place, she put this into practice by showing Versace Flash, a co-ed capsule collection.). (“I’ve always defended women. I’m the first one open to changes.” But there are none on the horizon just now. Sep 29, 2020. For the Spring-Summer 2020 Collection, Donatella Versace honors an iconic moment when fashion and culture became a catalyst for technological progress. Mar 14, 2020 James Devaney Getty Images Donatella Versace and her daughter Allegra Versace Beck have donated 200,000 euros to a Milan hospital to support their fight against coronavirus . Are there different ways of doing things that you have been adopting? How do you envision fashion transforming in this difficult time? I like the Crawleys as much as anyone, but none of this jibes with my conception of Milanese excess. (Imagine Donatella Versace at the ticket counter saying, “One for Downton Abbey, please.” Just sit with that image for a moment. “There was so much energy in the room, and you could feel the power of us creating a special moment in time,” Lopez says. The...other gold things? But we are working on this. Donatella Versace debuted her Fall/Winter 2020 collection in Milan during Fashion Week, marking the first time she showed her line as completely coed. Other luxury brands have used cheap fabrics for cost reasons and cheap ways to sew the clothes, and declared, ‘This is a luxury brand.’ No, that’s not possible anymore. 1310 Donatella Versace pictures from 2020. https://www.elle.com/fashion/a30796914/donatella-versace-interview-2020 I was outside in the street.”. I’m convinced that nothing is going to be the same ever again. Exclusive: Donatella Versace in Style.com/Print, Donatella Versace On Her New Soho Store, Working with Christopher Kane, and Starting a Band, Donatella Versace Is Not Who You Think She Is, Donatella Versace On The View…and On Maya Rudolph's Impersonation of Her, Rihanna Is Super Polite at Versus Versace. Put that dress on her; you’ll see that she’s going to be tall enough.”, When I mention the period in the mid-’90s when designers opted for scores of anonymous, interchangeable models, she sputters, “Oh God, I couldn’t take it anymore!” The Versace girl has always been a supermodel. Versace ceased using fur in 2018, and the company is striving to be more sustainable, having just opened a new green headquarters in Milan constructed from ethically sourced materials. Not necessarily the bland boardroom, PowerPoint connotation of the word, but the ability to say, “Hey, world: I’m 50, I’m fabulous, and I’m here.”, Versace’s kingdom, I’d hazard to guess, has room for the inner circle of fashion Illuminati and the people who, like Elizabeth Berkley’s character in the seminal Showgirls, pronounce it Versayce. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this, and my first answer is: Nothing’s ever going to be the same. "The emotion of a fashion show cannot be replaced digitally. No people around. With a blockbuster spring collection, a passion for sustainability and social justice (oh, and that J.Lo moment), the fashion legend is more relevant than ever. There were no cars. We started the sustainability discussion before COVID. Look at me: I’m not afraid, I’m not 20 years old, but I’m much better.”. The ateliers that we use for production, they all were in trouble with the pandemic, and a lot of them were very small, with only 10 or 15 people working there. Donatella was his muse and right hand—he dedicated his perfume Blonde to her. (“I’m very happy a 16-year-old girl said, ‘How dare you take my future away?’ I really like the youth in this moment; there are a lot of young people with great ideas.”) They remind her of her student days at the University of Florence: “I was into protesting. Now you can stay in a Versace hotel; lounge in a logo bathrobe with a Barocco-printed belt and matching slippers (next to Fido in his coordinating dog bed); and, if your vice decrees, flick cigarette ash into a Medusa-head ashtray. When Gianni Versace founded the house that would bear his name, he was already thinking in epic terms, doing what a science fiction author would call “world-building.” Growing up in Calabria, Italy, a former Greek colony that retained its classical motifs as well as its Roman glory, he drew on the might and myth of those traditions. Untold Truth of Donatella Versace's Daughter - Allegra Versace I never thought we were going to work so much from home via technology, Zoom discussions. It has to be a combination of week in the digital world and the real world. ’90” (a watershed moment Versace nodded to more than 25 years later by reuniting some of those supermodels at her spring 2018 show). Catherine St-Laurent on Finding Her Purpose, Inside the Making of Olivia's Dior BRITs Dress, We Need More Representation In Dermatology. I have a big team working on this and giving me answers. She foresaw the friends-with-benefits relationship that would spring up between pop music and fashion, forging early alliances with Madonna and Prince; the latter made CDs of then-unreleased music especially for the Atelier Versace couture show in 1995. This famous jet-setter? Instead, she’s gone full bore on aligning the brand with her beliefs. I don’t believe that. Beyond that, she doesn’t know what the future holds. But I did it; you adapt yourself. That’s the immediate reaction to fashion: ‘I want to wear it now.’. People fight in New York, people fight in L.A., but the other places in America, they need help,” she says. Given the way she looms over our culture—there are few designers well-known enough to be identifiable by a first name, let alone a Saturday Night Live impression—it was hard to believe the received wisdom that Donatella Versace is shy. We were very careful to help so that these small businesses don’t die – so that Italian craftsmanship doesn’t die. Dolce & Gabbana and Donatella Versace talk plus-size fashion. I was there for the supermodel moment that you did in 2017. Right, and I think that people are reconsidering right now, how much they’ve consumed in the past, and taking stock of what they have, wanting to invest in quality. And the audience raised thousands of iPhones in tribute. So, yes [to] digital, but not completely. Fashion Week. The gold safety pins? Celebrating Pride … Versace Plays With Geometry and Contemporary Daywear for Fall 2021. Not because you are well-dressed, but because you are a relevant person: your attitude, your intelligence, the way you explain yourself. “And I thought, ‘Fashion, if it doesn’t go into this world, it will become irrelevant.’ ” And before politicians and fashion mingled so seamlessly, she invited Chelsea Clinton to her spring 2002 fashion show and gave her a mini-Donatella makeover. She imitates her phone, going, going, going with its fusillade of push notifications. I love that.”, Recently, though, she’s felt more comfortable being herself. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. How to do that is another discussion. She conceived the look as armor, “so people would talk about how I look, not about what I have inside.” There were, she says, “things happening in my life, and I didn’t want to explain.” She retreated even further into the image during the most difficult season of her life, Gianni’s 1997 murder, which thrust her into the spotlight as she took over the brand. She’s a smart girl,” she says of Clinton. A post shared by Donatella Versace (@donatella_versace) on Oct 2, 2020 at 6:52am PDT The Beverly Hills PD released the body camera footage following Versace… But how would she follow up … Last September, Donatella Versace orchestrated the social media moment of the season when she asked one Jennifer Lopez to close out her Spring 2020 … Another thing I want to concentrate on is a seasonless collection. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io, See the Stylish Oscar Dress the Year You Were Born, Princess Margaret's Fashion Through the Decades, Vintage Photos of 21 Supermodels in the 1980s, Allbirds & Adidas Launched an Eco-Friendly Sneaker, Gwyneth Paltrow On How to Use the Goop Vibrator, 7 Chic Statement Accessories You Need This Summer, 40 Father's Day Gifts You Can Get On Amazon. When something never changes, it’s not relevant anymore, and the most important thing is to keep fashion relevant. In a world taken over by penitent Marie Kondo–style bloodletting of our gladdest glad rags, she is a beacon of maximalism, an old-school practitioner of Fashion with a capital F, a full-throated defender of glamour. How can we use this moment to change it for the better? !”), and she made a cameo appearance in a campy soap opera for the brand’s holiday campaign. That doesn’t mean luxury has to be very, very expensive. As they’re opening all those new stores, they’re asking all the nitty-gritty questions. When we meet, it’s hard to put this petite woman in the context of the sprawling hotel penthouse she’s sitting in, let alone the massive international brand she sits at the helm of.