By Megan Riedlinger
1:03am PDT, Could 2, 2022
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Whereas serving as vp and head designer of Versace over the previous couple of many years, Donatella Versace has stored the model on the forefront of the style world. The blonde icon (seen right here in 1991 when she was about 36) has at all times acknowledged the significance of the connection between vogue and movie star, and by harnessing the help of superstars, she continues to keep up the Versace title’s world fame. In honor of the dynamo Italian designer’s 67th birthday on Could 2, 2022, be part of Wonderwall.com as we have a look again at her life and profession in photos.
Maintain studying for her best moments captured on digital camera…
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Donatella Versace joined a fashion-forward household when she was born on Could 2, 1955, in Reggio, a city in Italy’s Calabria area. Older brother Gianni Versace was an up-and-coming designer and their mom had a dressmaking enterprise. She’s seen right here with Gianni in Paris in 1990.
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Donatella Versace picked her trademark look early on, and he or she credit brother Gianni Versace with dyeing her hair its signature platinum blonde shade when she was 11. She as soon as advised Harper’s Bazaar, “I have never looked back.” (She’s seen right here trying glam at a celebration in 1992.)
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Within the early Eighties, Donatella Versace married former Versace mannequin Paul Beck. The pair had two youngsters, Allegra and Daniel, however cut up in 2000. The household is seen right here in 1992.
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Gianni Versace began his firm in Milan in 1978 and sister Donatella Versace and brother Santo Versace helped out with the enterprise. Donatella is seen right here with Gianni at a Rainforest Basis Profit in 1994.
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Donatella Versace began designing for the corporate’s Versus line within the Eighties — brother Gianni Versace created the road as a present to her. Donatella’s friendships with celebrities together with Madonna and Elizabeth Hurley would later assist the model achieve notoriety. (Donatella is seen right here with Liz throughout London Vogue Week in 2005.)
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Gianni Versace was tragically murdered in Florida in July 1997. Donatella Versace then turned the inventive director of the Versace group. “When my brother was murdered, I had the eyes of the whole world on me and 99% of them thought I wasn’t going to make it. And maybe I thought the same, at first,” she advised The Guardian in 2017. “My brother was the king, and my whole world had crashed around me.” She’s seen right here with brother Santo Versace at Gianni’s memorial service in Milan in 1997.
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It was a 12 months stuffed with tragedy for Donatella Versace: In August 1997 — lower than two months after the homicide of her brother, designer Gianni Versace — household good friend Princess Diana was killed in a automotive accident in Paris. Donatella is seen right here talking with fellow designer Karl Lagerfeld as brother Santo Versace regarded on through the Princess of Wales’ funeral in September 1997.
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A solemn Donatella Versace walked the runway on the conclusion of Versace’s high fashion presentation in Paris in July 1998. It was her first present as the pinnacle of the style home following the dying of her brother, Gianni Versace, the earlier 12 months.
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In the course of the 1999 Met Gala, which paid tribute to the “Rock Style” exhibition, Donatella Versace donned a tropical-print robe with a plunging neckline that may change into extraordinarily well-known the next 12 months…
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In February 2000, Jennifer Lopez wore an immediately iconic inexperienced Versace gown with a plunging neckline to the Grammy Awards. Donatella Versace created the look, which elevated her household’s vogue home and marked a serious turning level in her life and profession following brother Gianni Versace’s tragic dying just a few years earlier. (Former Google government chairman Eric Schmidt has mentioned that Google Pictures was created as a response to the wave of on-line searches for the look.)
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In October 2002, Donatella Versace and brother Santo Versace previewed the “Versace at the V&A” exhibition — which honored their late brother Gianni Versace’s life and profession and featured a number of of his most iconic creations — on the V&A museum in London.
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Icons unite! In October 2002, Donatella Versace was joined by daughter Allegra Versace and longtime pal (and Versace muse) Madonna, plus the pop star’s daughter, a pint-sized Lourdes Leon, and former first daughter Chelsea Clinton at a celebration celebrating the “Versace at the V&A” exhibition — which honored Donatella’s late brother Gianni Versace’s life and profession and featured a number of of his most iconic creations — on the V&A museum in London.
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Donatella Versace has a humorousness! She’s seen right here posing with comedy star Maya Rudolph, who’s dressed because the designer, through the 2002 VH1 Vogue Vogue Awards at Radio Metropolis Music Corridor in New York Metropolis. Maya for years impersonated Donatella in sketches on “Saturday Night Live.”
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In 2004, Donatella Versace sought therapy for cocaine dependancy, which she battled after her brother’s dying. “I couldn’t stand the pain,” she advised Vogue in 2005. “I had to hide my feelings. What better way to hide your feelings than with drugs?” She additionally shared that it was household good friend Elton John‘s intervention that received her into rehab. She’s seen right here with the music star at his annual Elton John AIDS Basis Academy Awards Viewing Occasion in March 2006.
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In July 2007, Donatella Versace reunited together with her ex-husband, Paul Beck, and their two children — daughter Allegra Versace and son Daniel Versace, who’s change into extraordinarily personal through the years — at the opening evening of “Thank You Gianni, With Love” on the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The ballet honored the life and profession of Donatella’s late brother, Gianni Versace, and marked the tenth anniversary of his dying.
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Donatella Versace designed a Versace assortment for H&M in late 2011 with the intention of serving to the posh model attain a wider viewers. She assured followers the collaboration can be “quintessential Versace,” and it labored: Folks lined up in a single day to get their palms on the items, which ranged from $19.95 costume jewellery to a $299 leather-based jacket. Donatella even made an look at a London H&M retailer to fulfill followers. She’s seen right here on the launch in November 2011.
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Donatella Versace posed with Versace muse Girl Gaga and a furry good friend — make-up artist Frederic Aspiras’s canine Fozzi, who ceaselessly traveled with Gaga early in her profession — on a balcony at Palazzo Versace in Milan in October 2012. The next 12 months, Gaga launched an ode to the style icon, “Donatella,” on her “Artpop” album.
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Rapper Nicki Minaj interviewed Donatella Versace for Interview journal in December 2011 and received the designer to speak about her shut friendship with Prince and the supermodels of the ’90s. She additionally shared with Nicki one in every of her beliefs about vogue: “To be comfortable — that can’t be in the vocabulary of fashion. If you want to be comfortable, stay home in your pajamas.” Donatella and Nicki are seen right here on the Versus Versace vogue present throughout Mercedes-Benz Vogue Week in New York Metropolis in September 2014.
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Did you do a double-take? In 2013, Gina Gershon portrayed Donatella Versace within the Lifetime made-for-TV film “House of Versace.” In 2018, Penelope Cruz starred as Donatella on the collection “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” incomes Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her efforts.
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Donatella Versace introduced daughter Allegra Versace as her date to the 2014 Met Gala. “I don’t tell many people my last name,” Allegra advised Harper’s Bazaar in 2007, including that she goes by “[my father’s last name] Beck more than Versace” in her private life. The socialite additionally stays away from her designer mother’s well-known pals. “It’s not like I want my mom’s friends to take care of me!” she mentioned.
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Versace dominated the 2015 Hollywood awards season, outfitting extra stars — together with Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Aniston — than some other vogue home. In March 2015, Donatella Versace advised V Journal that she sees Jennifer Lopez as a great Versace girl. “Versace is about strength, individuality and power. It’s also about loving life, making the best of every moment, and being true to who you are. This is how I define Versace, and it’s also how I define Jennifer.” J.Lo and Donatella are seen right here on the Versace Haute Couture present throughout Paris Vogue Week in July 2014.
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Discuss an iconic (and nostalgia-inducing) vogue second! Throughout Milan Vogue Week in September 2017, Donatella Versace had a lineup of iconic ’90s supermodels put on her creations: Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen all hit the runway with the designer.
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On the 2017 British Vogue Awards, Donatella Versace gained huge! That night, the designer to the celebs took house the style icon award. “I am truly honoured to be collecting the Fashion Icon Award at The Fashion Awards in 2017,” she mentioned in a press release. “For 40 years, my brother and I have done what we love and that is a legacy I am honored to continue and uphold. We have celebrated empowerment, joy and of course glamour. We have championed a community of people who share our values and together with them have created truly iconic images in the world of fashion. I am truly humbled by how Versace has been embraced across the decades, across the world and across the generations.”
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Donatella Versace posed with Katy Perry, who donned a Versace creation for the event — and topped many best-dressed lists because of this — on the 2018 Met Gala, which paid tribute to the “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion & The Catholic Imagination” exhibition. Donatella co-chaired the gala that 12 months whereas her vogue home served as a sponsor. (Most of the night’s greatest appears to be like got here courtesy of Versace — see what we imply right here.)
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She took house one other notable prize a 12 months later. Donatella Versace gained the worldwide award on the CFDA Vogue Awards in June 2018. “It means so much,” Donatella advised the CFDA. “So many feelings are going through my head it’s almost impossible to describe it. When they told me, I did a double take! I was at home having dinner with some friends when I got the call… I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I felt humbled and honored at the same time. Receiving this award crowns a very special moment for me and for Versace and I couldn’t be happier. We have worked so hard to get to this point and I am so proud of what we are achieving.”
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In November 2018, Donatella Versace turned the primary girl to be named designer of the 12 months on the twentieth GQ Males of the 12 months Awards.
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Donatella Versace made headlines when she recruited good friend and muse Jennifer Lopez to shut out the Versace present throughout Milan Vogue Week in September 2019. J.Lo donned a plunging inexperienced tropical-print robe designed by Donatella that was harking back to her iconic 2000 Grammys gown. The 2 girls conspired to drag off the shock stunt after reuniting on the Met Gala earlier that 12 months: “We were sitting together at the table. I took a look at her, and she looked so gorgeous and she was so sweet, and she hasn’t changed a bit since the first time,” Donatella advised Vogue’s Anna Wintour. “And I said, ‘Would you do it again, Jennifer?’ And she said, ‘Why not, let me check my schedule.’ That happened in like two seconds. … This is what I like about her. She’s very instinctive. She doesn’t have to ask too many managers what to do.”
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In September 2021 — because the delta wave of the coronavirus pandemic started to abate — Versace made a triumphant return to in-person occasions with a star-studded displaying throughout Milan Vogue Week, which went digital the earlier 12 months. Donatella Versace closed out the Versace Spring/Summer season 2022 presentation with muse Dua Lipa.
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Donatella Versace supported longtime good friend Elton John by attending the 2022 iteration of his annual Elton John AIDS Basis Academy Awards Viewing Occasion that March. The music celebrity was unable to attend the West Hollywood bash on account of a scheduling battle along with his “Farewell Yellow Brick Road” tour, nevertheless it was nonetheless a household affair: Donatella reunited with Elton’s husband, David Furnish, and their two sons — Zachary and Elijah — plus the boys’ godmother, mutual pal Girl Gaga.
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In the course of the 2022 Grammys, Donatella Versace teamed up with Versace muse Dua Lipa and the chart-topper’s “Sweetest Pie” collaborator Megan Thee Stallion to spoof an iconic second from the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards. (Greater than twenty years in the past, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston made gentle of their rumored rivalry by sporting the identical brown gown to current an award collectively through the MTV award present.) After Dua and Megan took the stage in the identical Versace gown to current the Grammy for greatest new artist, Donatella joined them on stage, eliminated Dua’s skirt fully and took away half of Megan’s skirt to disclose two distinctly completely different appears to be like. “Now we both look like winners,” exclaimed Megan as the general pointless bit — which was cute however definitely not iconic — got here to an finish.