(by Gioia Giudici).
Donatella Versace, who will be
turning 60 on May 2, has announced on social media that she will
star in a Givenchy campaign for the next winter season.
"For my talented friend Riccardo. Together we break fashion
boundaries today!" Versace tweeted, posting a photo of herself
alongside her friend and fellow fashion designer Riccardo Tisci.
"So proud and honored to introduce my new ultimate icon,"
the Givenchy designer wrote as he posted the first campaign
image on Instagram.
This is perhaps the first time in the fashion world of
fashion that one designer stars in another brand's advertising
campaign.
Donatella Versace is known for breaking new ground. Along
with her brother Gianni, she transformed models into top models
in the 1990s, turning the likes of Naomi Campbell and Cindy
Crawford into household names.
She was also among the first to grasp the potential of
stars as a promotional vehicle for the brand, tying Versace's
name to such icons as Princess Diana and Madonna.
She is also credited for turning little-known actress
Elizabeth Hurley into a world star in 1994, thanks to a dress
with which she appeared at the preview of the movie Four
Weddings and a Funeral alongside her then-fiancé, Hugh Grant.
At the time, Donatella - who has two children, Allegra and
Daniel, from former husband Paul Beck - was the 'deputy' of her
brother Gianni, who had given her the role of creative director
of the Versus brand.
The relationship between the siblings from Reggio Calabria
was a symbiotic one enriched by the presence of their brother
Santo and violently severed by Gianni's murder in Miami in 1997.
While in mourning, she stepped into the shoes of the
designer who had made the Versace brand into a symbol of
ready-to-wear fashion. The period was a difficult one for both
the designer and the fashion company's accounts until 2004, when
she signed herself into a United States drug detox clinic.
Ten years after her brother's death, Versace admitted
trying to follow in Gianni's footsteps had been tough.
"Later I understood that Gianni would have changed," she
said.
"I understood that I had to find my own style. I now feel
truly Donatella...I have had enough of the past," she said.
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