Milan Fashion Week commences on Tuesday, and while Versace is absent from the official schedule, that doesn’t mean it won’t be talked about. In fashion, timing is everything – and with impeccable timing, less than 24 hours before the Milan shows are set to kick off, Donatella Versace has just revealed her next move.
After stepping down as Versace’s chief creative officer in March 2025, Donatella, 71, has announced a new joint venture with Revolve Group, the Los Angeles-based online fashion retailer. While the venture is yet to have a name, what we do know is that she will serve as its chief creative officer and that it will cover beauty as well as fashion. This could be excellent news for those of us who’ve had a lipstick-shaped hole in our make-up bags ever since her much-loved cosmetics were discontinued in 2007.
Admittedly, Revolve isn’t as well known in the UK as it is in its native US, meaning that some Britons might be left scratching their heads at the news. After all, Donatella is a fashion legend, one of only a handful of living designers with true cross-generational appeal. She’s loved as much by Gen Z (who buy up vintage Versace on eBay and Vinted) as by their parents and grandparents, along with everyone else who remembers the glory days of Versace, the house founded in 1978 by her brother, Gianni Versace, for whom “little sister” Donatella functioned as a muse.
Granted, Revolve isn’t a blue-chip luxury brand in the manner of Prada Group, which acquired Versace from Capri Holdings in December 2025. There are still fans who would love to see Donatella back at the helm of Versace, a position she held for 30 years. Given that she and Miuccia Prada are, by all accounts, friends, many fashion lovers felt disappointed at Prada Group’s decision to appoint Dario Vitale as Versace’s chief creative officer in March 2025, not least because he only lasted a season. His successor, ex-Alaïa head Pieter Mulier, is set to show his debut collection in early 2027.
In fact, Donatella’s latest move is far savvier than any return to Versace would be, as well as being exponentially more ambitious. Revolve sells a curated mix of third-party and in-house clothing brands designed to appeal to millennials and Gen Z, featuring a dizzying array of names from the well-known (Birkenstock, Coach, Levi’s) to the niche (Coperni, Magda Butrym) to the frankly never heard of. In 2025, it reported revenues of $1.23bn (£910m) and profits of $61.1m (£45m). In short, it has deep pockets, as well as the infrastructure and digital know-how to manage and extend Donatella’s brand on a global scale.
Revolve’s 29 “in-house” brands currently account for 20 per cent of sales, and while it has previously forged long-term and short-term partnerships with actress Jennifer Lopez, designer Peter Dundas and influencer Nicole Richie, Donatella is by far its most high-profile joint venture to date. Given its expertise in marketing, operations and e-commerce, the sky’s the limit. Donatella must be rubbing her hands in glee.
“I believe creativity should be fearless, inclusive and alive in the world. I have always been inspired by the next generation, in music, film, art and, of course, fashion,” she said in a statement. “This partnership gives me the freedom to speak to that generation in a completely new and personal way, through beauty and fashion.”
“Freedom” is surely what it’s all about. While it’s impossible to overestimate Donatella’s creative input at Versace, the fact that it was founded by her brother inevitably meant that she was duty-bound to honour and uphold his legacy, possibly to the detriment of ever cementing her own. The pressure must have been immense. This new partnership with Revolve means that she can finally step out of Gianni’s shadow and into a brave new dawn.
At 71, it feels particularly brave to be entering such uncharted territory. But that’s what makes it so exciting. At a time when women older than 45 are struggling to find gainful employment, a septuagenarian launching a new business venture feels rarer than a hen’s tooth. But Donatella, like Anna Wintour, 76, is of that redoubtable generation that isn’t stopping any time soon. Like Wintour, she’s a household name who has helped define the public’s perception of what fashion is.
Which is precisely her appeal to Revolve. With 12.2 million followers, Donatella is one of the most popular fashion designers on Instagram. But she’s also part of the culture: case in point, her cameo in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Every time another A-lister wears one of her vintage designs on the red carpet, as Zendaya, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Lopez have done, interest in Donatella spikes anew. Even her look – the flaxen hair, the “molto sexy” bodycon clothing – is perfectly calibrated to cut through the noise, making her instantly recognisable in the highly visual social-media age.
In a world where the word “icon” is too frequently overused, Donatella is one of the few who deserve the descriptor. For a certain vintage of fan, her win feels like a win for all of us. Let’s hope Revolve allows her the freedom she has earned and, in doing so, earns them both a fortune.