Donatella Versace

Italian entrepreneur and noted family, the sister of designer Gianni Versace and manager of Versace House of Design. On 7/15/1997, her brother was shot to death, circa 9:00 AM in South Beach, Florida. She was in Rome at the time, staging a fashion show. Struggling through the shock and grief, she kept a tight rein on the business and for the next season, presented a new line as her brother would have wanted. Three months later, October 1997, she gave her first show without Gianni, in Milan. As manager of the business, along with her brother Santo, she owns 20% of Versace House, Santo owns 30% and her kids, Allegra, 12, and her younger brother Daniel, are the heirs to 50% of Gianni Versace's estate. Donatella's 1998 show was a blaze of excitement with garments displayed by top names in modeling and attended by top names in show biz. None surpasses the diva herself, a 5' 4" bottle blonde who does everything she attempts with gusto. She has always been a dynamo, saying "Life made me like this. I'm forced to be strong. I had no choice." Like her late brother, she has a knack for blending rock & roll and fashion, Hollywood celebrity and Milanese chic. Since 1983, she has been happily married to Paul Beck, an American-born former Versace model and presently creative director of advertising. Donatella was the baby of the family who grew up in the shadow of her elder brothers. Gianni was always her best friend and she was ten when he told her he was gay. Their mom had been a dressmaker and was a feminist for her time. Donatella was not tall and beautiful, but she learned to make the best of her strong features and dress in a way that was interesting and drew attention. She is committed to exercise, working out faithfully. Over the years, she gained a reputation of being a jet-set party girl; rich, generous, adventurous, sexy, full of life, a girl who could wear a 25-carat emerald encased in diamonds with jeans and a t-shirt. In spite of her glitz, Donatella is a woman who takes her responsibility for the House of Versace with persistence and poise. "It makes me feel scared," she says, "this kind of power. Nothing stays forever. You have to work hard to maintain. But whatever Gianni left me to do, I'll do. And I'll really enjoy doing it." On March 27, 2007, she announced that her daughter Allegra Beck, age 20, was undergoing treatment for anorexia. Donatella's world seemed to be falling apart. By late 2009 the business was doing badly in part because of Donatella's drug addiction and erratic decisions. A November 2009 Newsweek article reported that the company's revenue had been plummeting to less than half of its $1 billion income for 1996. She and her brother Santo brought in outsiders to run the company but resisted change so turnover was rampant Link to Wikipedia biography