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Next Monday night sees the Fashion Awards, that Swarovski-sponsored end-of-year shindig at which London (and visiting) industry figures let their hair down while raising money for education charities. Masterminded by Dame Natalie Massenet of the British Fashion Council, the event’s organizers work to generate some preemptive “sizzle”—as Massenet calls it—by announcing the winners of certain categories in advance. Following the already announced awards for Maria Grazia Chiuri and Stella McCartney, Massenet’s crew today revealed the winner of this year’s Fashion Icon award: Donatella Versace.
Of course, there’s no arguing with that at all. This year Donatella navigated the 20th anniversary of her brother’s death by presenting a series of excellent collections in his memory that climaxed with the rapturously received supermodel reunion in September. She also announced a comprehensive company-wide pivot to sustainable practice, already begun with Versace’s denim production and set to extend in the operation of a new boutique due to open here next week. As Massenet said: “I could not imagine a better recipient of this award, especially as this year marks such an important date for Versace.” Getting wind of this award in advance gave us a great reason to check in with Donatella to gauge her feelings about being sanctified as an icon—and to shoot the breeze about matters upcoming. Here is what she had to say.
Congratulations, Donatella! How does it feel to be an official fashion icon?
I feel very honored and . . . humbled at the same time. This year has been a roller coaster of emotions for me, and this is quite a flattering conclusion. I am very happy also because I was able to share that special moment with some of my closest friends. Naomi and the girls are part of my family, it’s like we grew up together, so having them there with me made that moment even more emotional and important.
Versace has enjoyed an outstanding year on the runway, both menswear and womenswear. The most recent collections have been joyful tributes to Gianni, whose loss the industry continues to feel. How has it felt for you to focus so firmly on your brother’s memory and legacy?
At first, it was not easy. That was the first time I actually went back to the archive after he passed away, and words cannot really express all the different, contradictory feelings I had during the process of creating the collection. What I know now is that I needed to do it. I feel like I went through a cathartic moment and now I feel lighter, liberated of a burden I was carrying with me for so long . . .
Even though we had a great roster of models in 2017, your ’90s vintage supermodel reunion in Milan in September was absolutely the outstanding runway moment of the year. It was an amazing coup, but in terms of impact, how can you top it in 2018?
For me, that [to top that moment] is irrelevant. I never look back at what I did, and that moment was for my brother; [it] was his celebration. 2018 will bring a lot of new, exciting things, you will see.
Speaking of 2018, it will mark 40 years since you, Gianni, and Santo founded the house of Versace. Can we expect more grand runway statements to celebrate?
You can expect more runaway statements for sure, or at least, I will try my best. But, honestly, I haven’t really thought about next year as the celebration of the 40th anniversary in terms of creativity for the collections. What I want, what I have always wanted, is to create something that is relevant now, maybe using elements of the past, but completely transformed and revisited with the eyes of today.
The original meaning of icon was a painted image of a key Christian figure. You’ve just been announced as the prime fashion sponsor of “Heavenly Bodies,” the upcoming Costume Institute exhibition. What does that partnership mean to you?
A lot. As you can imagine, being Italian and having grown up in the south of Italy—notoriously way more religious than the north—religious festivities have always been the center of our lives. Religion has always been a huge source of inspiration for both my brother and me. He took all the religious symbols and voided them of their literal meanings to turn them into elements of fashion. That was genius for me. It was never meant to be disrespectful. On the contrary, it was his way, our way, to transport that religious part of our lives into our work. And I am very happy that the Met decided to tackle this topic. I am sure it will present it with a completely different perspective, as it always does.
It’s perhaps been slightly overshadowed by all of the action on your runways, but this year you started a serious commitment to making Versace an environmentally sustainable operation. Are you planning to further that?
Absolutely. I am a firm believer that the future is green. The London boutique on Sloane Street is only the first step of a much larger retail project that eventually will involve all the other stores, as well as the entire company. We need to respect our planet and we need to do it now or it will be too late. It’s not only the way we produce the clothes, the materials we use, or how we use them, it’s also a new culture inside Versace, a culture that puts people and their well-being in the center. We are not doing this alone, though. Everything is being planned step-by-step by an external company called Nativa, which is working with us to set a calendar of internal changes that need to happen within a certain time frame to reach the goal of becoming fully sustainable in the medium term. I am very proud of this.
Proudly and loudly, you’ve been proclaiming female strength and self-determination for seasons now. This feels like a sea-change moment in gender relations, and relations between the powerful and the less so, across society. What would you like to see change in fashion, and elsewhere, in 2018?
More of it. More women coming together, raising their heads up, working together and helping each other. Unity is strength. A lot has been achieved, but not enough. And fashion can help. Must help. Fashion is a way of expressing yourself, and if a piece of clothing can make you feel stronger, then women should not be afraid to dare, to play with their image in a smart way to send across the right message.
What one piece of advice would you, as an officially minted fashion icon, offer to anyone starting out in the industry today?
To be patient, to never give up, and to work hard. Dreams do come true.