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| Donatella Versace |
I remember the first time I’m completely in love with Versace, it was men’s SS12. I was shocked with the spirit of freedom and creativity Versace had in that time: the underwear, sunglasses, and even gladiator shoes. Since then I always look forward to Versace shows, especially their menswear collection and their Atelier. And now, celebrating Donatella’s 59th birthday I made a list about how Donatella is still relevant as the queen of fashion.
1. She Carries The Legacy of Versace
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| Versace Logo |
After the horrible homicide of Gianni Versace in 1997, Donatella continues to manage Versace. It was a hard time for her because it’s hard to lose her own brother. She had to learn everything Gianni did with Versace. She owns 20% of total Versace’s market share. Donatella carries the name of the brand as her surname; she carries the legacy of Versace, replacing its original founder Giovanni. As we know brands that are on par with Versace like Alexander McQueen and Coco Chanel haven’t been maintained by their own original founder or people that have a close relation to the brands. Versace still has Donatella, Gianni’s sister.
2. Limitless Creativity
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| Versus Versace, a collab with J.W. Anderson |
Versace is now famous because of its own trademark in fashion world. Their womenswear collection, their menswear collection, and their Atelier collection bring their own spirit every time their show held. Donatella takes a big part of every decision taken in those collections. Her creativity became the unique character of Versace collections. A lot of collaborations especially with J.W. Anderson for Versus Versace (the collection and show I like the most) also makes Versace look super creative by expanding their collection by doing collaborations.
"(Fashion) It’s not intellectual; it's not art or science - it's about giving people pleasure, making them feel gorgeous. That is what people react to."
3. Trademark Style
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| Blonde, leather, and heels: Donatella |
Inevitably Donatella has her own unique style. Leather is one of her trademark, proved by her showing up in several shows and events wearing leather dress. We also can’t deny her original hairstyle that once became really famous, her straight-blonde hair. Donatella carries the uniqueness of an Italian woman especially with her accent. Once in an interview she said “I can give up anything, but not my high heels.”
4. Ability To Choose Perfect Muses
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| Lady Gaga for Versace Campaign |
You name it – MIA, Nolan Funk, and even Lady Gaga – they’re so perfect wearing Versace collections. Versace x MIA once became viral with their collection for youth, the different motifs for different clothes made the collection unique. Nolan Funk and Lady Gaga became the muse for almost the same time, while Nolan is the icon for their menswear collection. It’s quite different with Lady Gaga where reportedly Gaga is able to boost Versace sales by keep wearing their collections; wearing legendary silk shirts on the streets and her music video, and also wearing Gianni’s last collection in her music video The Edge of Glory.
5. Survival of Her Own Depression
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| Ups and downs - a strong woman |
If the music industry has Lady Gaga and Demi Lovato as the icon of ‘bullying survival’, in fashion world we have Donatella. After the shocking death of her brother Gianni in 1997 Donatella suffered from depression. She started using drugs, cocaine, and pills to make her stay sober. In 2004 Donatella flew to rehab on the night of her daughter’s 18th birthday. "I had the best time of my life. You just feel more awake, more aware. Unfortunately, it doesn't continue like that. So I just kept doing it, every time I was in New York, in Los Angeles, mostly at parties." Then she realized that using drugs led her to a breakdown and became incoherent.
Based on these 5 quick facts, I still consider Donatella Versace as the queen of fashion. She holds the legacy of her family name, and she has a strong mental to struggle in this business. Happy birthday, Donatella.
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