Famed designer Donatella Versace was a no-show for Dario Vitale\u2019s first Versace event since she was ousted from her namesake brand. The fashion doyenne, 70, was the brand\u2019s longtime creative director but was pushed into a chief brand ambassador role earlier this year. She wasn\u2019t at the \u201cintimate event\u201d at a 17th-century palazzo to launch Vitale as the new creative designer during Milan fashion week, reports Sara Nathan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact Donatella wasn\u2019t present says everything,\u201d sniffed a fashion source, who additionally huffed that her late brother Gianni Versace, who was murdered in 1997, \u201cwouldn\u2019t even recognize the brand that bears his name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donatella Versace with Anna Wintour at the \u201cHeavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination\u201d exhibit in 2018. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Donatella Versace at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March 2025. Getty Images<\/p>\n
Online, comments from stans were brutal \u2014 critiquing Vitale\u2019s collection, with longtime Versace devotees demanding Donatella come back. One commenter called the collection \u201cclumsy copies of Gianni and Donatella\u2019s past glories, paraded down the runway with none of their original power.\u201d <\/p>\n
Donatella Versace marches the runway in Milan on September 22, 2017. Daniele Venturelli<\/p>\n
But the show did get some high marks from critics: The New York Times called it \u201ccheeky, in every sense of the word,\u201d while the Cut\u2019s review at first branded Vitale\u2019s looks \u201ctacky\u201d and \u201cdownmarket,\u201d but \u201cby look 10\u201d it all had \u201cextraordinary sex appeal.\u201d Donatella was allegedly \u201cpushed out\u201d from her family brand earlier this year, and Prada Group agreed to buy the brand. Vitale, the former Miu Miu designer, was named the creative lead at Versace.<\/p>\n
Donatella Versace was not at the Versace show in Milan. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Either way, Donatella is being honored with the Positive Change Award at the CFDA Fashion Awards in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s living her best life,\u201d said a pal, adding that although she skipped the Versace show, Donatella was spotted in Milan with longtime friend Anna Wintour, who hosted an intimate gathering with billionaire Fran\u00e7ois- Henri Pinault to celebrate the launch of Cinemoda Club, a film series presented by Vogue Italia and Kering. She\u2019s also been spending more time in the States, we hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Famed designer Donatella Versace was a no-show for Dario Vitale\u2019s first Versace event since she was ousted from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,74368,96,709,72368,56,54,55,74366],"class_list":["post-168525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-donatella-versace","tag-entertainment","tag-fashion","tag-page-six-style","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-versace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}