The Versaces have left Versace

Donatella Versace was never supposed to be a fashion designer. She had no formal fashion education and was happy working on the business and styling of Versace as her brother, Gianni, built his house into Milan’s most opulent. But, in 1997, a madman brutally murdered him — and someone had to keep his legacy and brand alive. And so Donatella did.

Over the almost 30 years that followed — struggling through grief, business troubles and addiction — she has released more than 100 collections, grown the brand into a multi-billion-dollar giant and did so aggressively, without selling out its style or quality. Her recent Fall /Winter 2025 collection was an eccentric, fabulous celebration of those decades, pulling exuberantly from the Versace archives. There were gorgeous double-denim suits, coke-fueled metallic party dresses, baroque puffer gowns, a chainmail evening dress, long leather coats, a pairing of blue lingerie and brown leopard print and a perfect closing triplet of black velvet cocktail tutus, with stiff, wavy skirts.

That collection only feels all the more perfect now, knowing that it was her final collection for the house. This morning, on the brink of a likely sale to the Prada Group — from current owner Capri — Versace announced that Donatella has stepped down from the creative director seat, and will now be the house’s “chief brand ambassador.” She’ll appear at red carpets and charity events, but will be hands off with the designs and direction of the brand. For the first time, Versace will not be run by a Versace.

In her place, the house is handing the reigns to Dario Vitale, an excellent Milanese designer who helped turn Miu Miu into one of the trendiest, most exciting brands in fashion, while still holding true to the style of its female founder, Miuccia Prada. Hopefully he’ll do the same here with Donatella’s style.

Though Versace was one of the first fashion brands to figure out how to extend beyond clothes — namely, with their blockbuster fragrance business and luscious home line — one of the special things about Donatella is that she never chased after trends or dropped the “Versace” look; nor did she let the brand get old or stale either. When luxury turned to streetwear, Versace went more casual and print-heavy; in the “quiet luxury” era, she embraced thick leathers and tonal browns.

In her Fall/Winter 2024 collection, there was a glossy black leather New Look suit (Look 59), scrunched strapless dresses (Look 70), an equestrian weekend look (Look 42), slouchy all-brown ensembles (Look 37 and 38) and a whole set of red plaid boucle get-ups (the best being Look 20). These are bold bright looks, sure — more dinner party than daily commute — but they were modern and wearable.

Two of the most striking runway shows of the past five years from any brand have been Versace’s; namely, their Fall/Winter 2023 collection, shown in LA, and the “La Vancanza” buy-it-now show, shown on the French Riviera, co-designed by Dua Lipa. The former show was filled with black looks paired with shades, with long cuts, big shoulders, oversized shirts and a general allusion to power dressing. The Dua Lipa collection, on the other hand, didn’t have a single black item. It used pastel pinks and blues, polka-dot dresses, metallic shirts, and bright-crop corsets. Despite being shown just two months apart, they didn’t look remotely alike; yet, they were unmistakably Versace.

Donatella’s resignation isn’t a surprise. The brand’s owners have been looking to sell it for some time; she’s almost 70 years old; and it’s been a big year for designer musical chairs, with around a dozen high-profile exits. But Donatella’s retirement is perhaps the biggest deal of them all. She brought luxury into pop culture, basically invented the supermodel, accidentally spurred the invention of Google Images and designed some gorgeous, fabulous clothes along the way.

Gianni may have founded the brand, but Versace was Donatella’s house.