Donatella Versace has taken her last runway bow.
Ms. Versace, the younger sister of the founder Gianni Versace and the woman who stepped in to safeguard the company after his murder in 1997, is leaving her post as chief creative officer after almost 30 years. She will become chief brand ambassador, an honorary role involving philanthropy and red carpets (and red carpet philanthropy). Dario Vitale, the former design and image director of Miu Miu, has been named the new designer.
In a release on Thursday announcing the news, John D. Idol, the chief executive officer of Capri Holdings, which owns Versace as well as Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, called the decision “part of a thoughtful succession plan.”
The change comes as Capri is considering the sale of Versace after the Federal Trade Commission blocked an attempted merger with Tapestry, the owner of Coach and Kate Spade. Prada currently has an exclusive bidding window on the brand, according to someone close to the situation but not officially authorized to speak on the subject.
Ms. Versace, 69, has long been the embodiment and the guiding spirit of Versace, but she was never supposed to be its designer. She assumed that role after her brother was shot on the steps of his Miami mansion. Despite having no formal fashion training, she grew into a beloved figure within the company and the industry.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to carry on my brother Gianni’s legacy,” Ms. Versace said in the news release. “He was the true genius, but I hope I have some of his spirit and tenacity.”
The rare woman at the top of a major fashion brand, she wore her struggles — with personal tragedy, self-doubt, finding her creative feet, and drugs — with as much aplomb as her long platinum hair. The joyfully brash aesthetic Mr. Versace established became part of her signature, and for the Grammys in 2000, she put Jennifer Lopez in a “jungle dress” cut to her navel. There were so many search queries for the look that Google Images was born.
Celebrities and supermodels loved her, as a pre-Oscars show in Los Angeles in 2023 full of boldface names demonstrated. She was a champion of L.G.B.T.Q. rights and may have the most Instagram followers — 12.2 million — of any designer. As a result, she became among the most recognizable designers in the world, played onscreen by Lady Gaga, Penélope Cruz, Gina Gershon and Maya Rudolph.
She was so easy to caricature that she often wasn’t given enough credit for Versace’s success. But in 2018 Capri (then called Michael Kors) paid $2.1 billion for the brand, which includes homewares and hotel design. Mr. Idol called it “one of the best known in the world, with huge reach and enormous growth potential.” Still, Versace never fit comfortably into the American group, and sales have declined.
Last year, in recognition of her contribution to Italian fashion, Ms. Versace was given the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, one of the highest honors in Italy.
“Versace is what it is today because of Donatella Versace,” Emmanuel Gintzburger, the chief executive of Versace, said in the news release.
Now it will be up to Mr. Vitale to continue that legacy, following his two years as design director at Miu Miu, one of fashion’s most astonishing success stories. Miu Miu revenue grew by 97.3 percent in 2024, a year when much of the industry saw sales fall thanks to consumer uncertainty and a broader industry slowdown. It has become one of the houses most consistently driving the fashion conversation, managing to bridge the gap between influencers and intellectuals.
Mr. Vitale called the job at Versace a “privilege” and thanked Ms. Versace for “her trust in me.”
It is probably not a drawback, if Prada is seriously considering buying Versace, that its new designer is someone with a history of working successfully with Miuccia Prada (who is a close friend of Ms. Versace).
Whatever happens, however, Ms. Versace said in the release: “I will remain Versace’s most passionate supporter. Versace is in my DNA and always in my heart.”
