DONATELLA STRUGGLED TO MEET EXPECTATIONS
Italian designer DONATELLA VERSACE struggled to meet the fashion industry’s expectations of her following the murder of her brother Gianni.
Donatella took over as head of design at the Versace fashion house after her elder brother Gianni was gunned down by Andrew Cunanan on the steps of his Miami, Florida mansion in July 1997.
The 52-year-old marked the 10th anniversary of Gianni’s death on Sunday (15Jul07) by lending some of his creations to a ballet production in Milan.
Donatella says, "For the last four months, I’ve been going through the archives for the ballet. Each costume I found represents a memory. I still hear Gianni’s voice, saying, ‘don’t make a mistake’, and I know he would be proud. I couldn’t think of a better way to mark the 10th anniversary. If there is a superpower, he’s there.
"It’s a presence that hasn’t always been a comfort. The hardest part was the expectation that I somehow had to be my brother, to become Gianni.
"But how could I? But everyone was watching me. The comparison was always there. Was I more like Gianni, or less? Were the clothes what he would have designed? I felt lost, confused. But I had to keep going."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
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