Donatella Versace, Italian fashion star, full name Donatella Francesca Versace, was born in Reggio Calabria (Italy). Having inherited her brother's business, she was able to bring it to a new level and now it is her name that is associated with the Versace Fashion House.
Biography
Versace is the youngest of four children in the family. Her older sister Tina died of tetanus infection at the age of 12, leaving Donatella, Santo and Giovanni (later Gianni). Parents were from ordinary people, mother sewed clothes, and father worked in trade and economics.
Since childhood, Donatella and her brother Gianni have been interested in fashion. It was Donatella who was the first model and "client" of Gianni. He created clothes for his sister, and she wore them with pleasure.
In 1972, Gianni Versace moved to Milan, where he began his career in fashion. The next year, Donatella began studying foreign languages in Florence. She wanted to become a teacher, but often visited Milan to help her brother, who listened to her sister's opinion in his work.
After graduation, Donatella moved to her brother. By that time, he had already founded his own Fashion House. My sister joined the business and planned to engage in public relations, but Gianni decided that she could and deserved more and entrusted her to engage in PR as the director of the direction.
In general, it turned out to be a family team, because the older brother was the current CFO.
Career
In the early 80s, Donatella got the opportunity to lead the Versus direction - clothing for young people. Gianni was not wrong, his sister did a great job. By the way, it was she who suggested inviting show business stars to participate in the shows.
Donatella showed excellent abilities in the development of the Fashion House. By inviting big stars such as Demi Moore, Liz Hurley, Madonna and others, she has achieved worldwide recognition of the Versace brand.
Now the stars of show business not only participated in the projects of the Versace family, but also became their regular customers.
In 1997, disaster struck. On July 15, brother Gianni Versace was shot dead outside his home in Miami. The offender committed suicide during the arrest. This event greatly influenced Donatella.
Some time later, she returned to the business, launching her own clothing line. However, she did not receive recognition. Later, Donatella admitted that she would not be able to continue her brother's business, and began to work on her own style. It was not easy, but all the time she was looking for something new, unique. And she did it.
The new clothing line was sleeker, more feminine and less sexually aggressive than Gianni's designs. But Donatella did not abandon the main component of the brand - eroticism and luxury. As a result, Versace's style has become even more recognizable, it could be called so - "business, sexy, daring."
If the press wrote about unusual, provocative or, conversely, luxurious outfits of stars at social events, then most often it was about the Versace brand.
In addition to fashion, Donatella runs another line of family business - high-class hotels. The family now operates several Palazzo Versace hotels in the United Arab Emirates and Australia.
Real estate as a successful investment was another area that Gianni and his sister had in common. Donatella owns several residences, the cost of which is estimated at $ 21 million. Donatella does not live in any of them permanently. This is understandable, because her life now is endless participation in various projects and the organization of her own fashion shows in different countries.
Personal life
Donatella was married once. In 1986, she married an American businessman. In the same year, the couple had a daughter, Allegra, who, after the death of her uncle Gianni, became the owner of 50% of the shares of the Fashion House. In 1989, Allegra's brother Daniel was born. Soon after this event, Donatella's divorce from her husband followed, and Donatella became even more actively involved in the family business.
Donatella showed the whole world how successful a woman can be. In 2013, the life of Donatella Versace was embodied by the actress Gina Gershon in the documentary "House of Versace".
