The designer synonymous with the super glamorous world of Italian luxury…

Sensuality and glamour have always been the hallmarks of Versace, the famous Italian high-fashion brand founded by Gianni Versace in 1978, and handed on to his sister Donatella after his death in 1997. Since then Donatella Versace has been Creative Director of the house and Vice President of the board, and has evolved the Versace look into one of the most distinctive of the twenty-first century.

Donatella Versace was born in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy where she grew up with her two elder brothers. While completing her degree in languages at the University of Florence, she started to assist her brother Gianni in his work by supervising the advertising campaigns shot by great photographers like Richard Avedon and Bruce Weber that contributed so greatly to the unique visual style of Versace.

Since taking over at the design helm of the house, Donatella has won critical acclaim and numerous awards, and has brought her distinctive style to the famous Medusa label. She has also presided over its expansion into areas beyond fashion. In 2000, Versace opened Palazzo Versace on Australia’s Gold Coast, a six star resort and the first hotel project to be branded by a luxury goods company. Now as well as clothing, accessories, fragrances, jewelry and timepieces, there is a Versace home furnishings collection, as well as an interior design facility for private jets and helicopters, and even a limited edition Versace Lamborghini sports car.

Through Donatella, the Versace name lives on, synonymous, as it always has been, with the super-glamorous world of Italian luxury.

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