Donatella Versace is leaving her post as creative director of her family’s fashion house, where she headed for 28 years. She will be replaced by Dario Vitale, who previously worked as design director of the Miu Miu brand from the Prada portfolio.
As reported by the owner of the brand, Capri Holdings, from April 1, Donatella Versace will also take the position of chief ambassador of the fashion house. Against this background, the media reports on the possible imminent sale of Versace to the Prada Group holding. This will allow it to become the largest player in the Italian fashion industry.
Donatella is the “only constant” of the Versace house, Vogue claims. Her brother Gianni was shot dead on the threshold of their Miami villa in 1997, either by a serial killer or, according to some journalists, by the Italian mafia, and the fashion designer suddenly became responsible for the entire family legacy alone. In April, Donatella Versace will be replaced as creative director by 41-year-old Dario Vitale, a former Miu Miu designer. But she will remain in the company and, most likely, more than just an ambassador of the brand, says Anna Lebsak-Kleimans, CEO of Fashion Consulting Group: “The person to whom Versace is now being handed over was brought up, and she will become a curator. At the same time, the potential new owner of the fashion house, Prada, is a very Italian company, they are minimalistic and have already had experience in buying brands and trying to develop them. It was not the most successful, though.
But Versace certainly has huge potential. In part, their downshifting is simply connected with the wave of minimalism, conciseness and restraint. The pendulum of fashion swings in different directions, now excess is returning.”
The changes in the house of Versace are taking place against the backdrop of a crisis in the global luxury industry. It affected primarily French brands that overestimated demand in the Chinese market, analysts say. But the Italian fashion house and its potential buyer Prada are not among them. Over 28 years of work, Donatella has proven herself to be a successful businesswoman, expanding her exclusively clothing brand to other areas, noted Daria Yadernaya, head of the MBA program at MGIMO and the Strategic Marketing and Management program at the British Higher School of Design: “We are talking about the hotel, restaurant business, accessories and home goods. In this regard, Donatella Versace’s departure from the position of the leader of the clothing brand does not mean a guaranteed refusal of the company to give up its positions in all other segments.