HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Allegra Beck turns 18 today and officially inherits the 50 percent stake in the fashion house that her late uncle, Gianni Versace, left her in 1996. But those expecting Versace-esque fanfare will be disappointed, as a company spokesman confirmed Beck isn’t planning a public celebration of any kind. The choice fits into Beck’s low-key lifestyle and into the manner adopted by her mom, Donatella Versace, who’s been very protective of her daughter.
On July 5, the day Versace shareholders meet to approve the books, Beck will be able to fully exercise her ownership for the first time. Beck’s majority stake will shift the company’s structure, since her mother owns 20 percent, while her uncle, Santo Versace, owns 30 percent.
Beck already has celebrated her coming-of-age with a birthday bash for 300 at a disco club in Milan. Eighteen cakes, each lit with one candle, were wheeled in for the occasion. The group of friends who celebrated with the ash-blonde Beck included Margherita Missoni; cousin Francesca Versace; Eleonora Berlusconi, the daughter of Italy’s prime minister; Matteo Gastel, and other high-profile young types.
Reserved and reclusive, Beck is focusing on her last year in high school at Sir James Henderson, a British school in Milan, before she flies to the U.S. to attend college, probably specializing in international business. She also makes no secret of wanting to pursue an acting career. Her studies were said to be the number one reason for her no-show at Versace’s men’s wear runway show Sunday night.
Beck, whose fashion style is colorful and irreverent, loves to mix Miss Sixty denim with designer pieces, including, of course, Versace and Versus, especially slip skirts. Sources close to her describe Beck’s style as girly but not frivolous, sexy but not vulgar. She’s been spotted shopping at H&M with her mother.
As one source close to the company said, “She’s just a bubble-gum-chewing kid and that’s what she should be.”