Dario Vitale - Designer, Creative Director of Versace

[Marc10]

 

[TomBlanksFullFatMiuMiu]

Smart choice not in a basic black jumper, but I already dislike this appointment.

 

[Creative]

How to make Versace relevant in 2025… that’s probably one of the most difficult questions in the industry today.

Good luck to him. I’m curious to see how it will look like.

 

[FashionPower]

He had an IG private profile as per yesterday, he swept off his content and made it public with the new Versace role bio...giving me drama queen vibes already and I'm loving it

 

[caioherrero]

more than ever with this announcement I have no doubt that the Prada group is really buying Versace.

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

Prada wants to take over Versace for 1.5 billion euros?
After months of rumors, we are getting closer to Donatella Versace's brand under the ownership of Miuccia Prada.​

IVAN ILIĆ
//
PUBLISHED: 04. 03. 2025.

As reported by Il Sole 24 Ore, every day is getting closer to a final agreement between Prada Group and Capri Holding on the complete purchase of the Versace brand. The news comes just a few months after the fashion world was shocked by rumors of a significant drop in sales at the Italian brand. In a statement to WWD, the current director of Capri Holdings, John Idol, said that the sales drop was due to "the maximalist aesthetic and the fact that each Versace piece is a statement piece in itself."

The crisis in the brand was not helped either by the failure of last year's agreement to merge Capri Holdings, a brand that includes Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, with the American group Tapestry Inc., whose portfolio includes Coach and Stuart Weitzman. The merger into one group was prevented by the American court and the competition agency, and the reason they cite is an attempt to achieve a monopoly within the American textile industry.

Prada Group as a way out?​

Perhaps it is not so well known that Prada is not just Prada, but an entire fashion group that has been trying to compete with industry titans like Kering and LVMH for years. The Prada Group was founded in 1993 when Miuccia launched her second, sister brand, Miu Miu. It was expanded in 1997 when Prada Luna Rossa was founded, one of fashion's most significant entries into the world of sports and sailing.

A major expansion into the world of fashion takes place in the late nineties when Prada starts investing in competing brands with the aim of taking them over. The Helmut Lang and Jil Sander brands were added to the group in 1999, and in the early nineties, shares in the failed Gucci group were quietly bought, so Miuccia at one point owned as much as 10% of that brand. Nevertheless, Prada and its business and private partner Patrizio Bertelli know how to manage their two brands very well, but they have always had problems with others.

The Prada Group is credited with the downfall of Helmut Lang, who was driven from his own brand by creative differences with the new owners and the inability to accept corporate culture in brand management. Jil Sander went through a similar fate, where she left the position of creative director several times. The group sold both brands in 2006 and decided to concentrate exclusively on Prada and Miu Miu, along with a few smaller brands such as Church's and Car Shoe, which in the context of the organization serve more as a support for those two stars than independent and attractive brands.

Versace without Donatella​

It's clear that Prada and Bertelli, judging by their history of acquisitions and reselling for significantly smaller amounts, don't have the business sensibilities of other, more established brands. Helmut Lang and Jil Sander were icons of the nineties and strong competitors to Prada's aesthetics, and we will never know whether the intention behind these takeovers was to "clean up the competition".

On the other hand, Prada presented official succession plans for the brand and the entire group a few months ago, probably to avoid a scenario similar to the hit series Succession. The question arises - are the Prada-Bertelli family and partners ready to establish a strong Italian fashion group today?

It would be the first time Prada has invested in a brand of similar size and popularity. Versace is not a fringe or niche brand begging for investment from bigger players, but a struggling titan brought to its knees by the wave of minimalism and quiet luxury in the post-pandemic era. If a brand of that size were to acquire Prada, or anyone else of similar stature, then we are talking about the most important fashion transfer of the year. According to increasingly current rumors from both brands, the likelihood of this is increasing.

However, what will happen to Donatella? Certain sources within the fashion industry have called the latest collection, the one for Fall 2025, her last. Looking at the aesthetics, presentation and Donatella's social media posts, we shouldn't be surprised if this collection turns out to be a farewell. There is also information circulating in fashion circles about the termination of the contract between Donatella and Capri Holdings in May of this year, with no intention of renewing it.

Leaving aside the private and long-standing friendship of Miuccia and Donatella, can we expect Versace under Prada, which is still creatively managed by the heiress of Gianni Versace? Despite its size and cult status, Versace and its potential new owner do not have much in common, and the aesthetics of the brand will certainly be interfered with, regardless of who becomes the new owner. What will happen to the iconic Italian brand that created the concept of the supermodel and marked an entire era? All we have to do is wait for the end of the month and monitor the situation on the stock market.

Translated from Elle Croatia Website.
(elle.hr)

 

[GoldenPetals]

Is Miu Miu his major work? I didn't follow the industry when he was rising. Where else did he work?

 

[JohannesL]

I am confused！Does the Prada group want to turn Versace into another Miumiu sister brand or the new CD is very talented and versatile?

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

I am confused！Does the Prada group want to turn Versace into another Miumiu sister brand or the new CD is very talented and versatile?

If Prada buys it, Prada wants profit. Versace became boring, Donatella lost all the ideas. It was time. This guy will have big shoes to fill in a legacy house but at the end this could work. There are no egos so far. Let’s wait and see. I think he could already make debut in June for menswear.

 

[mrbelgravia]

Do we know if he’s going to do the Atelier line?

 

[Xone]

I just hope he doesn't try to do Intellectual-Versace....it was mention somewhere when it will be his first collection?

 

[Thefrenchy]

Curious about what he's going to do. Let's see the degree of change they want him to bring but it's going to take a hot minute to move on from the tons of hideous Merch stuff they have.

 

[moonmoon]

Sory for asking but you know how old is he ?

 

[Creative]

Sory for asking but you know how old is he ?

From that picture my guess is 38/40 🫣

I wonder if they want to Pradify the brand…

 

[FashionPower]

He needs to come up with a decent bag literally as soon as possible.
The leather goods business of the Versace business has been terrible since the MK acquisition and there's not a single bag from Versace that really made an impact. They're so irrelevant that even chinese factories refuse to manufacture replicas...

 

[tourbillions]

Boring

 

[reese06]

Does anyone know what collections at Miu Miu he had a major hand in? or any images he was responsible for?

I'm interested in seeing what work he's done

 

[BalkaniStaCouture]

From that picture my guess is 38/40 🫣

I wonder if they want to Pradify the brand…

I would LOVE if they “Pradify” Versace!!! Medusa would’t be grumpy anymore!!! Buahahahahaha! I am mean… sorry!

 

[TomBlanksFullFatMiuMiu]

Does anyone know what collections at Miu Miu he had a major hand in? or any images he was responsible for?

I'm interested in seeing what work he's done

Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 Miu Miu, 2 seasons only
Both super ugly and bad

 

[IndigoHomme]

im not sure why, but i can see an Ancora debut away in the horizon coming near to us