$1,700,000,000
Versace
Net Worth
Started in (City)
Milan
Started in (Country)
Italy
Incorporation Date
01st December, 1978
Bankruptcy Date
-
Founders
- Gianni Versace
About
Gianni Versace S.r.l. usually referred to simply as Versace, is an Italian luxury fashion company and trade name founded by Gianni Versace in 1978. The main collection of the brand is Versace, which produces upmarket Italian-made ready-to-wear and leather accessories. The Versace logo is the head of Medusa, a Greek mythological figure. The logo came from the floor of ruins in the area of Reggio Calabria that the Versace siblings played in as children. Gianni Versace chose Medusa as the logo because she made people fall in love with her and they had no way back. He hoped his company would have the same effect on people and on those who wore his clothes and shoes. The Versace brand is known for its innovative designs having symbolic flashy prints and bright colors but with style.
Beginning
In 1972, Gianni Versace designed his first collections for Callaghan, Genny, and Complice. In 1978, the company launched under the name "Gianni Versace Donna." The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan’s Via Della Spiga in 1978. Versace was one of the few independent designers who was in control of everything about the brand, from designing to retailing. In 1982, the company expanded into the accessory, jewelry, home furnishing, and china industries. In 1993, Donatella Versace created the "Young Versace" line as well as "Versus." In 1994, the brand gained widespread international coverage due to the black Versace dress of Elizabeth Hurley, referred to at the time as "that dress". Versace was often described as the "Rock n’ Roll designer" because they designed for many famous clients, including Elton John and Michael Jackson, as well as the most beautiful women. Versace designed the stage costumes and album cover costumes for Elton John in 1992. Versace has also designed clothing for the Princess of Wales and Princess Caroline of Monaco. The Versace company is known for using the same models in their ads as they do on the runway. After the murder of Gianni Versace in 1997, his sister Donatella Versace, formerly vice-president, took over as creative director, and his older brother Santo Versace became CEO. Donatella's daughter Allegra Versace was left a 50 percent stake in the company, which she assumed control of on her eighteenth birthday.
Road to Success
In 2000, the "green Versace dress" worn by Jennifer Lopez at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards gained a lot of media attention, being voted as the "fifth most iconic dress of all time" in 2008, with Hurley's 1994 dress being voted first in a Daily Telegraph poll. In 2006, Gianni Versace S.r.l. entered into a partnership with Automobile Lamborghini S.r.l. to produce the Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 VERSACE. The car had a Versace white satin interior with the Versace logo embroidered into the seats. The car was available in black and white. There were only ten units produced. The car was sold with a complimentary luggage set, luxury driving shoes, and driving gloves. The Versace company teamed up with AgustaWestland in 2008 to create the AgustaWestland AW109 Grand Versace VIP luxury helicopter. The helicopter includes Versace leather interior and a design on the outside. In 2011, Versace and H&M released a new line of clothing that would be sold in H&M stores. The store sold both men’s and women’s clothing and home items such as pillows and blankets. In February 2014 The Blackstone Group purchased a 20 percent stake in Versace for €210 million. As of 2016, more than 1500 boutiques operate worldwide; the first boutique outside of Italy was opened in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1991. On 24 September 2018 Michael Kors announced that it offered a deal to buy Versace for 2 billion euros. In September 2018 Versace announced that one hundred percent of all Blackstone and Versace family shares had been sold to the Group Michael Kors Limited. In October 2018, Versace announced the brand’s first ever Pre-Fall season show in New York on 2 December. The show is scheduled on Gianni Versace’s birth date.
Challenges
During the years when Gianni was sick, Donatella found herself reluctantly taking the reins of the company. She explained her role as intermediary in a 2006 interview with New York magazine: “I was going up into his apartment, showing him the work, getting the approval from him, but I ran the company because he wasn’t showing himself. It was like a year and a half. I did everything . . . [That way of running the company was more] convenient for me, when I was next to Gianni, because Gianni was the one with all the responsibility, taking all the criticism. It was a more comfortable position.” In spite of her experience shadow-directing the company when Gianni was alive, Donatella found herself ill-equipped to fully take over after her brother was murdered in 1997. And her self-critical nature spiraled to the point that she paralyzed herself with fear and anxiety. The expectations to meet were extreme. During her first individual fashion show, she asked the reporters not to compare with her brother instead talk about her work and identity. The company’s profits were in decline in the early 2000s; Fabio Massimo Cacciatori was hired as interim CEO to reorganize and restructure the Versace Group in 2003. Cacciatori resigned in December 2003 due to "disputes with the Versace family". From 2004 Giancarlo di Risio, from IT Holding, was CEO of the group until his resignation in 2009 due to disagreements with Donatella.
Failures
“When you use cocaine every day, your brain doesn’t work anymore,” Donatella told Vogue in 2005. “I was crying, laughing, crying, sleeping—I couldn’t understand when I was talking; people couldn't understand me . . . I was aggressive; my voice was always high. I was scaring [my family] to death; my children were petrified of me.” Her professional decisions were as erratic as her personal ones—and the Versace brand identity wavered. The company posted losses of $7.1 million in 2002. In August 2019, Versace produced a range of tops that suggested "Hong Kong and Macau were separate countries". Versace apologized to its Chinese customers, said it had made a mistake in the design and would destroy the offending clothing on 11 August 2019. Chinese actress Yang Mi, who also is the brand’s ambassador in China, said she would end her association with Versace.
Achievements
- In 1985, Gianni was awarded the Silver Mask award for his contribution to Theatre at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK
- In 1993, Gianni was awarded the first American Fashion Oscar by the CDFA in New York
- Glamour Award for Designer- 2012, 2016
- CFDA Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti International Award 2018
Subsidies
- Vertime B.V.
CEOs
- Gianni Versace
- Santo Versace
- Fabio Massimo Cacciatori
- Giancarlo di Risio
- Jonathan Akeroyd (current)