The word Medusa, in Greek, means “guardian” or “protector”. She is a character from Greek mythology characterized by her ambivalence. On the one hand, she is beautiful, and on the other, monstrous.
Half woman, half goddess, with a human body, wings, and snake hair, she was capable of turning into stone whoever dared to look at her beautiful face, whose beauty fascinated and bothered in equal measure. Her image was invoked as protection and presided over many Greek temples.
The fact that the myth survived to this day undoubtedly contributed the designer Gianni Versace (1946-1997) used it for the logo of his brand, created in 1978. But many years before, he already helped his mother in the tailor shop that she had in Reggio di Calabria, the city where he was born.
Donatella was his little sister and she started working with the designer at a very young age. The Versace surname became the trademark of the rich and famous. But, on July 15, 1997, her brother is assassinated at the gates of her house in Miami, when he was returning from a walk. She was 50 years old.
The whole world was petrified by the news, as if the gaze of the gorgon Medusa had left us stunned, again, after long inactive centuries. Donatella replaces her brother as creative director of the firm.
Despite the initial problems, her addiction to drugs and the change in the tastes of her clients, Donatella will manage to double the value of the firm over time, and continue to count on the celebrities among his fans, more than 25 years after his brother’s death.
Oblivious to the jokes about her and the criticism of her image, which has hardly changed in decades (with her long, platinum blonde hair and her always tanned skin), she has shown that she can handle anything and that, like the legendary mythological Medusa, she has fulfilled its mission to guard and protect the brand that Gianni Versace took to the top.
If you want to review the work of both of them and the one that the designer has done, then, on her own, the celebrities she has dressed and discover some details about her life, don’t miss our photo gallery.
