Donatella Versace banned from using family name, used as a ‘scapegoat’ and ousted as chief creative officer of Versace

Donatella Versace has spent decades turning fabric into fantasy and the red carpet into her personal runway.

She’s the woman who made Jennifer Lopez’s jungle dress at the 2000 Grammys so iconic that Google Images had to be invented to keep up with the demand for it. And now? She’s allegedly being pushed out of the very empire that she herself kept alive when the world was ready to write it off.

Donatella held Versace together after her brother’s tragic murder in 1997. With no formal fashion training, she stepped into the role of creative director and reinvented the brand at a time when minimalism was dominating the industry. Celebrities flocked to her creations — Britney Spears, Halle Berry, Kim Kardashian, and of course, J.Lo. Donatella understood something that many designers forget: Fashion is about fantasy. It’s about making people feel larger than life.

But behind the glitz and the glamour, cracks were forming. In 2018, the Versace family sold the brand to Capri Holdings (the parent company of Michael Kors) for a cool $2 billion. Many saw it as inevitable in an industry increasingly dominated by corporate conglomerates like LVMH and Kering. At the time, Donatella framed the sale as a new chapter for the brand, promising that it would allow Versace to grow globally while staying true to its roots. But in hindsight, it’s clear that this was the beginning of the end of her reign.

Fast forward to now, and the relationship between Donatella and Capri Holdings has apparently soured. Reports via Page Six, suggest that Donatella allegedly clashed with Capri’s executives over everything from creative direction to pricing strategies. John Idol, Capri’s CEO, allegedly pushed for changes that many insiders felt diluted the brand’s identity — like introducing a monogram logo to mimic the success of Louis Vuitton’s “LV” and Chanel’s iconic interlocking Cs.

The tension wasn’t just about logos, though. Under Capri, Versace raised its prices in an effort to position itself as a more exclusive luxury brand. The timing couldn’t have been worse. With inflation and economic uncertainty gripping consumers worldwide, many loyal customers found themselves priced out of the brand they loved. Sales took a hit, and Capri needed someone to blame. Enter Donatella, the ultimate scapegoat.

This week, the news broke that Donatella would be stepping down as chief creative officer, replaced by Dario Vitale, a rising star from Miu Miu. While she’s staying on as “chief brand ambassador” — a vaguely defined role that essentially makes her the public face of a company she no longer controls — Donatella’s influence over Versace’s future will be minimal. To add insult to injury, she’s reportedly banned from using the Versace name for any future fashion ventures and prohibited from designing for any other brand.

She’s the latest in a long line of designers who’ve lost control of their namesake brands after selling them to corporate owners. Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, and Jo Malone all faced similar fates. But where does Versace go from here? Vitale is stepping into some very big (and very high-heeled) shoes. He’s coming off a wildly successful run at Miu Miu, where he helped the brand achieve a 97% sales increase last year. There’s also speculation about a potential deal with Prada, which could bring Versace back under Italian ownership. If that happens, it might offer some hope for restoring the brand’s creative soul. But even if Versace thrives under new leadership, it will never be the same without Donatella at the helm.