There is no doubt that Versace is one of the most famous luxury fashion brands in the world and we often see their designs — whether it’s on the red carpet on Hollywood stars like Angelina Jolie or on the next generation of celebs such as Kylie Jenner‘s daughter Stormi Webster. Today we wanted to take a look at the names behind Versace, namely Donatella and her late brother Gianni.
After Gianni died in 1997, his younger sister Donatella took over the famous fashion company and today we wanted to take a trip down memory lane and look at what her relationship with her late brother was like. If you keep on scrolling you'll find out what Gianni's relationship with Donatella's daughter Allegra was like as well as what Donatella thought of Gianni's longterm boyfriend.
Alright, now here they are — 11 facts you may not have known about Donatella and Gianni Versace’s relationship!
11 Let's Start Off With The Fact That Donatella Is Gianni's Younger Sister
To kick our list off we decided to go with the fact that Donatella Versace is Gianni‘s younger sister. Gianni was actually already 10 years old when Donatella was born on May 2, 1995, however, this never stopped the two from being close to each other. And while we know that Donatella loves living her life in style and luxury she certainly owes much of it to her late brother Gianni Versace without whom the brand would have never been as big as it is!
10 Even Though The Two Were Almost A Decade Apart In Age They Loved Partying Together
Next on our list is the fact that Gianni and his sister Donatella Versace always loved partying together. To be honest, if you look at photos of the two designers from the '80s and '90s — most of them are taken at fancy parties which the siblings almost always attended together. It definitely seems as if the decade apart in age didn’t bother these two too much as they definitely enjoyed doing things together!
9 And Donatella Would Always Get Fashion Advice From Gianni
Let’s move on to the fact that Donatella would frequently get fashion advice from her brother Gianni. According to Harper's Bazaar, the designer would often tell Donatella how to dress when they went out and she would pretty much always agree to Gianni's wild and extravagant ideas. In the photo above you can see Donatella Versace in an edgy dress that was somewhat provocative for the time which, of course, Gianni designed for her and she looked absolutely stunning in it!
8 Who Also Told His Sister She Should Dye Her Hair Blonde
Another interesting fact that we discovered about Gianni and Donatella Versace's relationship is that he actually advised her to dye your hair blond. In the book called Versace which was written by Ingrid Sischy and Donatella, the famous blonde revealed that "Gianni was so obsessed with Patty Pravo, an iron-straight-haired ‘blond,’ that he persuaded eleven-year-old Donatella to dye her own hair just like his heroine." Ever since we can remember, Donatella has been rocking blonde hair!
7 Donatella Was Gianni's Biggest Muse
It’s clear by now that Gianni Versace adored his younger sister considering that he loved creating beautiful clothing for her and he always gave her advice on how to switch up her look. There is absolutely no doubt that Donatella was Gianni’s biggest muse and over the years the designer has stated that Donatella inspired plenty of his work. Over the years Donatella learned a lot from Gianni which also meant that she was the perfect choice for taking over his company.
6 Gianni Gifted Donatella Versace's Versus Line
Let’s move on to the fact that Gianni actually gifted Donatella the Versace Versus line which was launched in 1989. The hip fashion line — which was meant to reach a younger audience — has been Donatella's ever since and any fashion addict out there probably already knows that the line is still very popular amongst younger celebs and it even did a collab with former One Direction member Zayn on a capsule collection called ZAYNxVersus which was released in 2017.
5 And She Was There To Step In When Her Brother Got Sick
In 1993 Gianni Versace was diagnosed with a very rare cancer of the inner ear. During his battle with it, he decided to pass as much of his business as he can on to his family — mainly his sister Donatella. While Donatella ended up taking over the Versace business after Gianni died in 1997, she has also previously been stepping in whenever her brother needed a break for health reasons. During those times, Donatella still made sure to always get advice and approval from her brother on important business matters even though she was pretty much running the brand by herself.
4 Donatella Never Liked Gianni's Boyfriend Antonio D’Amico
Let’s move on to Antonio D’Amico — Gianni's boyfriend of eleven years. The two met in 1986 and were together up until Gianni’s death in 1997. However, Donatella was never a big fan of Antonio and in an interview with the New York Times she said that her relationship with Antonio is exactly as it was when Gianni was alive, also stating that she respected him as the boyfriend of her brother but she never liked him as a person!
3 Gianni Was Very Close With Donatella's Daughter, Allegra
In 1986 Donatella Versace gave birth to her daughter Allegra and it’s safe to say that Gianni absolutely adored his niece. In the photo above you can see the two together and Allegra has admitted on multiple occasions that her uncle’s death was something she struggled dealing with — especially considering that she was only 11 years old at the time. Based on photos of them together, it's pretty evident that Gianni's face would always light up whenever he saw Allegra!
2 Whom He Left 50% Of The Versace Company — While Donatella Got A 20% Stake
After Gianni‘s death, it was revealed that he left a 20% stake of the company to his sister Donatella, while her daughter Allegra got 50%. Of course, Allegra was unable to use her shares until she turned 18, which meant that Donatella pretty much owned the majority of the company until then. Once Allegra turned 18, she asked her family for more time away from the company but she eventually excepted her uncle’s inheritance in 2011 and she took her seat on Versace's board!
1 And Lastly, Donatella Keeps Honoring Her Brother Through The Versace Brand
To wrap our list up we decided to go with the fact that Donatella Versace keeps honoring her brother and his legacy through the Versace brand. Above, you can see a glimpse at her Versace Spring 2018 collection also known as the Versace Tribute Collection. It was entirely created in the honor of her brother and some of Gianni‘s favorite original supermodels also made a comeback to walk down the runway in honor of the late designer!
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