Last month, Donatella Versace stunned an audience at the London College of Fashion when she announced that she was looking for the future “heir” of her company, someone to take over Versace after she eventually steps down.
Apparently, she wasn’t just talking about a far-in-the-future kind of search.
Last night, 19 year-old Michele Guglielmo was presented as the very first winner of Donatella’s annual hunt for the best new fashion talent. The annual contest is meant to seek out and support young fashion students, awarding the winner with a scholarship to the post-diploma program at Milan’s European Design Institute.
Upon completion of the design program, Guglielmo will become Versace’s newest intern.
The contest required 10 sketches from each student, all meant to sum up Versace’s “genius and style.”
Is it just us, or does this sound like an heir-grooming contest more than anything else?
We suggest keeping your eyes on every student that wins this contest to see who will replace Donatella after she steps down. And why she’s already looking for a successor seems like a pretty good questions to us, too.
—NATALIE HORMILLA
posted by guest
Nov 15, 2007 4:00PM
Versace w/o Gianni is nothing more than a hawker of ugly purses. That Donatella would do this is no shock to me. Allegra seems to have no interest in running the show and it's clear that someone will have to, but the House is sinking fast.
This sort of stunt proves it. It all goes back to my 1st sentence.