Donatella Versace was born in Reggio di Calabria, Southern Italy, the youngest of four children. Her father, Antonio, was a salesman and her mother, Francesca, was a dressmaker. Her older sister, Tina, died at the age of 12 from an improperly treated tetanus infection. She was persuaded to dye her hair blonde at just 11 years old by Gianni, because he was a big fan of Italian singer Patty Pravo. In the mid-1970s, Donatella followed her older brother, Gianni Versace, to pursue knitwear design in Florence, Italy. She had planned to work for her brother in the public relations department, but, according to her, was more valuable to him as a "muse and critic". Through her closeness to her brother's enterprises, she entered the fashion world. In 1989, Gianni launched a perfume dedicated to her, Blonde, and gave her her own label, Versus, which Gianni formerly ran for her until his death. Her brother Gianni Versace was murdered on 15 July 1997, outside the re-constructed Casa Casuarina, also known as Versace Mansion, in Miami, Florida. In the aftermath of the highly publicized crime and manhunt, most of the Versace family, including Donatella, moved temporarily to a secluded private resort in the Caribbean. Her brother, Santo Versace, inherited 30% of Versace upon Gianni's death and her daughter, Allegra Versace, inherited 50%. On 18 July 1998, one year and three days after Gianni's death, Donatella Versace mounted her first Haute couture show for the Versace Atelier at the Hôtel Ritz Paris. She built her runway over the hotel's swimming pool, as her brother had done every season, though this time using sheer glass. From October 2002 to January 2003, Gianni and Donatella's best known Versace clothing was displayed in a special exhibit of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Her first years as head of the company were unstable, until she defined a new feminist proposition for the brand in 2005. Donatella has designed advertising campaigns for Versace that included Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Courtney Love, Christina Aguilera, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Demi Moore, Nicki Minaj, and Lady Gaga and made Beyoncé and January Jones. She designed the Green Versace dress of Jennifer Lopez, also known as the "Jungle-Dress", which was worn by Jennifer Lopez at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000. In 2015, she appeared in the AW15 ad campaign of its direct competitor Givenchy. Donatella designed the Palazzo Versace Australia resort on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, which opened in September 2000, and played a major role in the design of the Palazzo Versace Dubai, the second Palazzo Versace hotel, which opened in November 2016.
Versace has made a cameo appearance in Zoolander. In The Devil Wears Prada, her name was mentioned sporadically. At the 42nd Grammy Awards, Jennifer Lopez wore the Green Jungle Dress which became an international point of attention, being highly publicised in the media. It was designed by Donatella herself and Lopez has the original dress currently with her at her estate. The dress worn by Lopez remains the reason for the creation of Google Images, and is known to have been downloaded over 600,000 times within 24 hours of the Grammy's night. In 2019, Lopez wore the dress for the first time since 2001 for the Versace Milan Fashion Show. Versace was parodied several times by Maya Rudolph on Saturday Night Live. In the ABC series Ugly Betty, a fictional character called "Fabia", played by actress Gina Gershon, is a parody of Donatella. Gershon also played Versace as the lead role in the Lifetime television movie House of Versace, released in 2013. In 1999, director William Friedkin considered Angelina Jolie to portray Donatella, in a small role, in a film which never materialized entitled The Man Who Killed Versace written by Frederic Raphael. Lady Gaga wrote the song "Donatella" from her 2013 album Artpop for her. The plot of season 2 of the television series American Crime Story recounts the murder of Donatella's brother, Gianni Versace. She is portrayed by Penélope Cruz. She criticized the authenticity of the TV series, stating that she was with Madonna when the murder occurred, a moment that is not in the pictures.
Personal life
Versace and her former husband, American model Paul Beck have two children: daughter Allegra Versace Beck, and son Daniel Versace. Her marriage with Paul Beck ended in 2000. She fought a cocaine addiction for 18 years, until 2005. A heavy smoker, she quit in 2014. She is a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
