The Hard Process Of Creating A Brand For A Woman

Donatella Versace

The 60 year old.

The husky voice sounds more like a Slavic than an Italian. When making a joke, she uses a brisk and pretending accent, and she often makes jokes when speaking.

Versace was walking happily, and her son's Labrador wind and fire came up and put her head on her lap.

She set white.

A leopard pillow on the sofa.

"He is not going to leave," she said as she stared at the dog's eyes and rubbed his neck vigorously.

"He's staying here, if you don't mind."

We are sitting in her office in Milan, which is bright and bright, and has an amazing resemblance to Roman Abramovich's yacht.

Like the fashion brand named after her family name, Versace's living space can often prove that even the vulgar things can be rotten to magic through gorgeous production standards.

In this rapidly changing industry, her brand has basically remained unchanged.

Versace is trauma - a breakup, or a pregnancy - the artifact after rebirth.

It often evokes a showy and flagrant attraction: fluffy hair, metallic mini skirt and animal pattern accessories.

These are the things that a father will think of when he hears the word "fashion".

Despite the flowery design and the short skirt, Versace's clothing itself is solid and exquisite, with high quality known at first sight. It makes people feel that buying a skirt for 3000 dollars is actually a fair price.

They also have unexpected consolation.

"I always like to ask girls what to look like when trying on clothes," Versace said. "I asked them," do you feel comfortable wearing this? Do you like yourself? We are women -- I know they are models -- but we are all women. "

I feel justified in her explanation.

In my experience of wearing Versace, I will feel that a brand can not give me the sense of "disguise".

It may sound strange, but these clothes will give me a physical safety.

The man who created them is always talking about their children, and the staff who work overtime are also famous for their big meals, and the clothes are like this. They look like claws and claws, but there is a kind of magnanimity inside.

"We know our weaknesses," she said. "Male designers make designs for perfect women, and female designers design for real women."

I met Versace in mid December last year when there was a strong and even aggressive luxury in the center of Milan.

The hidden municipal loudspeaker sings Christmas songs, and the streets are decorated with tiny white lights. People wearing fur coats and a little botulinum toxin can be seen everywhere.

The windows are full of Christmas decorations, hanging with almond cakes and gleaming boots.

The headquarters building of Versace is located in this beautiful scene.

The brand was founded in 1978 by Gianni Versace; after he was murdered in 1997, his youngest sister Donatella took over the brand.

She spends more than 50 hours a week here, designing 10 series in one year to take care of 1 billion dollars.

In 1988, Gianni and Donatella were together, and he died 9 years later.

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"I have experienced several restarts in my life.

After Gianni died, I took over the company, and I made a lot of mistakes. "

Here she refers to the troublesome times, including drug addiction, and a series of colorful pink and delicate fashion.

"Then I found my way," she said. "But after finding your own way, it's not enough."

Versace's manner convinced her that the worst time had passed. At the moment, she turned an electronic cigarette on her hand.

This action gave people an illusion, as if she was about to run to a nearby balcony.

But Versace sat still and sighed.

"In order to wait for the instant of metamorphosis, it took a lot of time."

"Metamorphosis" turned into "Versace" by her accent, referring to the spring and summer series of Versace 2016, which was shown in Milan last September.

In addition to a loud applause, this series also caused the front row guests to fall down and admire the tears.

They include a military uniform style waist jacket and mini shorts, a camouflage suit with buttons open, and a small sportswear dress - all with knapsack and rubber sponge shoes.

The unapproachable pure sex appeal of the past few seasons has all been tempered. No matter how many, it just makes people imagine that they would wear them outside Ibiza (that is, the telephone conference, commuter, and the children after school).

When she came to the stage to thank her, the audience found that Versace's waist length platinum golden long hair had been cut to shoulder.

"I think sunwear is more important than evening wear," she explained. "Because most of the day wears" normal "clothes, rather than a long evening dress.

Versace expresses this view as if it is a big surprise, but it may be true for those famous European rich.

She tug at the persimmon top and let Versace's Medusa logo go back to the center of her chest.

"I jumped out of my comfort zone. Actually, I don't know if this show can be successful.

I was scared because it was too big for me. "

This is a metamorphosis that runs counter to everyone.

For the first time in the past five years, it seems this is the first time that other designers are going to turn to Versace's hotness. This is the brand that has polished dozens of styles.

The whole breeze of the whole industry was gone, and the leather shoes and camel hair coats were missing. The eyelashes grew longer and the natural lips suddenly turned red.

In Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci lets the girls walk up and out in exposed underwear and fluttering gowns; the Marc Jacobs series is inspired by the "show girl"; Paco Rabanne uses chains and armor elements in large quantities.

Versace himself also noticed this, and she seemed to think it was neither a kind of praise nor an insult.

For her, whether it's the latest trend of sexy design or the warm acclaim of her works, she is less excited than the model's performance.

"The girls are beginning to compete with each other again!" she almost screamed.

"Really, you can see.

The last time I saw such a competition was in the 90s of last century! When Naomi! "

Under questioning, Versace admitted that she really did some stir up work.

"I want them to come up with their own personalities," she said. "It's like walking on the street.

You can't do that in the street. "

At this time, she mimicked an exaggerated crotch - "I don't understand why you should walk this way to me!"

"This show is for women."

Versace said.

Later, she said, "no matter where you look, books, movies, news, you can see that women do not get enough power.

We get less money than men, and the United States has not yet had a female president. "At this time, she raised her eyebrows with her head askew and showed appreciation to her with the imitation of Hillary Clinton." we are not as powerful as people think. "

As art director and vice president of Gianni Versace SpA, there are reports that Versace holds 20% stake in the company; her elder brother Santo holds 30%; the remaining half belongs to her daughter and 29 year old Allegra - these are all Gianni's will in the testament.

Versace's sense of success and excitement is consistent with the company's current financial position.

In 2014, the Blackstone group bought 20% of the company's shares with 210 million euros. In the same year, the company opened 40 new stores.

In 2015, we opened another 30 stores, and planned to refurbish the Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York.

Brazil will soon open two new stores, and new stores in South Korea and Manila are also preparing for it. (Versace has a thriving business in casinos, and the number of casinos in Asia is growing.

The company is currently preparing for IPO, and its net profit increased by 27% in 2014, which is expected to increase by 17% in 2015.

Gian Giacomo Ferraris, chief executive, expects revenue to reach Euro 874 million by 2017.

2016 spring and summer clothing show, Donatella for Gigi Hadid fitting.

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Such success today is unforeseen ten years ago.

Since taking over the company in 1997, Versace has completely changed its management level, so that the company's performance has achieved two digit growth.

However, the kindly soul of the late brother still lingers around the company and its leaders.

I wonder if it's because of the tragic death of Gianni, or because of the growing relationship between Calabria in the middle of the last century, Versace has an amazing language style, and frequently joined in violent jokes.

In only half an hour, she admitted that he was going to kill two people, one was Prince, because he had a free concert, but she could not go there, and Bruce Weber, because he was riding an all terrain vehicle when she was making blockbusters.

She "hates" herself for three years of electronic cigarettes, and the beauty of Gigi Hadid.

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Versace stays in the office most of the week after a week, but it is also surprising that she is living in a private and even quiet life as a person with such a prominent surname and a familiar face.

Before going to work, she exercises, eats breakfast, lets the professional hair and make up for her. She usually leaves the company late at night, goes home to have dinner, takes a bath.

She calls Elton John and Rupert Everett intimate friends, but despite her friends, most of her friendship is maintained by telephone.

For decades, the Versace family has been on holiday in a manor lake, which was bought by Gianni at the end of last 70s, but it has been reported to have been sold to a Russian restaurant owner.

Today, Versace will travel with two children.

After we meet for a few days, they will go to St. Moritz.

"Oh, you skiing too?" I asked.

"It's not slippery," Versace laughed. "But I have beautiful clothes."

Our conversation gradually moved away from the beginning of work and fashion, and she became excited to outline her current interests: Bernie Sanders ("I love him, he is too funny"), "hip hop Empire" ("I like Cookie, I want to be her".

She's very bad and tough. "

At that time, Versace's own little Jack Russell dog Audrey ran into the office.

I asked her how old Audrey was.

"8 years old," Versace replied, "but can you write her 6?"

Later that afternoon I visited Emma Noe Eli S arcade, the beautiful double arcade architecture, one of the world's first shopping centers, and Versace was the main contributor to its recent renovation project.

Then I went back to the company headquarters, where a team of 20 people was carrying out the new Atelier Versace advanced customization series.

The atmosphere is entirely in the grip of Versace. It has a college atmosphere, or even a warm and comfortable atmosphere.

Her design process is cooperative, so many people feel that their speeches will be heard.

A teenage model stood silent in a narrow room, patiently looking at the space ahead, breathing very shallow.

Designers surrounded her, whispered in Italian, dragging a white dress with a thin fabric.

It is rare to see so many adults with high concentration of attention gathered together at a critical juncture.

Of course, the whole trial process is as quick as emergency rescue.

This skirt is made of paper and plain cloth, not very strong. However, after this design, it will be reproduced with blue beads and silk. The large area of the fabric is now on a table like a "Last Supper", shining like a fish skin.

Versace turned around the model and said to the seamstress that she wanted to put the ruffle down an inch.

Several people nodded their approval. The girl was then asked to go to the other room to take photographs and file, and quickly put on the next clothes.

Versace sat down and picked up a glass with ice water on a silver tea tray.

Her Rolex wrist watch, like a fishing pole drop, hung on the slender wrist and collided with crystal jingle.

She picked up a pink plastic tube and began to drink.

The model came back quickly and wore another skirt, which had some symmetrical holes on it.

Versace asked the tailor to move down a piece of mesh that was about to be set up with beads on the waist.

The tailor said this is not workable in structure.

With the repeated pleading of Versace, the two men quickly arrived at a compromise.

"She promised!" cried Versace excitedly, but not to any particular person.

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The model continues the way of "taking photos - changing clothes".

In the latter skirt, Versace asked for a lengthened skirt, and then a white bra that needed to be replaced was replaced with blue.

Third skirts -- a shiny black fabric with a slit until the thigh -- she asked to remove the hollows and pearls from the body ("good! Sexy! But a little less...")

The tailor did not resist, but explained that if there were no pearls, the dress would need more heavy fabric to have the correct pendant.

Versace gave her consent at once, revealing that she had foreseen her own problem in a clever way.

"No problem," she said. "Let's add more jewels!" then Versace vetoed the sleeves of a skirt and cut it off eagerly ("get rid of!" "OK!"). Then she adjusted the slit and said, "for women, half of the knee is half bad."

Throughout the whole process, she laughed all the time - everyone laughed.