Donatella Versace

Italian entrepreneur and noted family, the sister of designer Gianni Versace and manager of Versace House of Design. On 15 July 1997, her brother was shot to death, circa 9:00 AM in South Beach, Florida. She was in Rome at the time, staging a fashion show. Struggling through the shock and grief, she kept a tight rein on the business and for the next season, presented a new line as her brother would have wanted. Three months later, October 1997, she gave her first show without Gianni, in Milan.

As manager of the business, along with her brother Santo, she owns 20% of Versace House, Santo owns 30% and her kids, Allegra, 12, and her younger brother Daniel, are the heirs to 50% of Gianni Versace's estate.

Donatella's 1998 show was a blaze of excitement with garments displayed by top names in modeling and attended by top names in show biz. None surpasses the diva herself, a 5' 4" bottle blonde who does everything she attempts with gusto. She has always been a dynamo, saying "Life made me like this. I'm forced to be strong. I had no choice." Like her late brother, she has a knack for blending rock & roll and fashion, Hollywood celebrity and Milanese chic.

Since 1983, she has been happily married to Paul Beck, an American-born former Versace model and presently creative director of advertising.

Donatella was the baby of the family who grew up in the shadow of her elder brothers. Gianni was always her best friend and she was ten when he told her he was gay. Their mom had been a dressmaker and was a feminist for her time. Donatella was not tall and beautiful, but she learned to make the best of her strong features and dress in a way that was interesting and drew attention. She is committed to exercise, working out faithfully. Over the years, she gained a reputation of being a jet-set party girl; rich, generous, adventurous, sexy, full of life, a girl who could wear a 25-carat emerald encased in diamonds with jeans and a t-shirt.