Versace

You don’t have to be interested in fashion, to know or at least have heard of Versace. It’s one of the most well known fashion brands in the world and has been loved and worn by many famous people such as Elton John, Jenifer Lopez, Princess Diana and many others.

Versace is known for its great quality, the elegance of the clothes and fresh style. However, quality and style are not the only things to hold up a fashion company. Business management is a family thing for Versace and they proved to be very good at it.

Donatella Versace, who is the head and designer of the company, owns the 20 percent of it, her brother Santo owns the 30 percent, while her daughter Allegra has inherited the remaining 50 percent from her uncle Gianni Versace, who loved her so much. 

Gianni, the founder of the Italian house, who was murdered by Andrew Phillip Cunanan, on July 15, 1997, was a legendary figure that had brought revolution in the fashion world of his time. He had a unique style and loved his job. He wasn’t afraid of making a change or using unusual material. He had learned the craft of dressmaking from his mother and knew what he wanted to do from a very young age. It was something that came within him and one of his favorite things to do when he was young was to watch his mother’s clients trying on dresses.

His mother, Francesca Versace, a dressmaker, with whom Gianni had a very special relationship, had her own shop in Reggio Calabria. Although his father was a merchant, he loved poetry and opera so he took young Gianni to the theatre and the movies, elements that were afterwards shown as influence in his designs.

Gianni’s siblings were Tina and Santo. When his sister died at the age of ten years old from peritonitis his mother was devastated. Some years later, Donatella was born and Gianni developed a very special bond with her. Unlike his brother Santo, who was his father’s favorite and had studied business administration and economics at the University of Messina while helping his father with his business, Donatella seemed to be a lot like Gianni. He made his first designs for Donatella, who was his muse. Donatella began studying literature at the University of Florence, but then abandoned her studies to follow and help her brother. 

Gianni started helping his mother as a buyer for her boutique. He then worked for some other large companies and in 1978 Versace got his own label. His brother Santo was there to help him out with his first contracts and business matters. Along with his brother Santo and his sister Donatella, Gianni Versace marched a road of rise and success.

After the terrible incident of Gianni’s murder, Versace was in a very crucial stage. Donatella took over since her daughter who had inherited the largest percent of the company was only 11 years old and tried to gather the pieces and continue the work her brother had began.

“I had two choices” Donatella admits in an exclusive interview for net-a- porter “to follow Gianni’s steps completely or to become my own person. That was a bit difficult for me at the beginning because everybody was expecting me to follow Gianni’s steps and at the same time to compare what I was doing with Gianni.” Donatella, like all the Versace family, is daring, original and with a strong personality and what she did was that she continued what her brother had started in her own way.

Problems though came on the surface very soon. The company was gaining almost half of what it gained before Gianni’s death and some of the Versace houses had to be sold. The whole company and family was scared by the drug addicted Donatella who was not much of herself anymore and at some point later on the press was informed about Allegra’s eating disorders. Fortunately with the help of her dear friend Elton John, Donatella decided to fight her addiction and has been sober since 2004.

The amazing thing about Versace is that they have their own “family way”. It is of great significance for the Versace family what they leave behind for the next generation to come. Like Francesca Versace taught her craft to her son and gave him a starting point, so Gianni imparted his skills to his sister and left his great fortune to his siblings and beloved niece. All the Versace family members were loyal, active and took part in making this work. The question now remains of what the future holds for this famous Italian house and if Allegra Versace is going to keep the tradition.