THE WASHINGTON POST: Prada completes purchase of long-time rival Versace for $2.2b
The parent company of the Italian luxury fashion brand Prada completed the acquisition of longtime rival Versace on Tuesday for a reported $1.4 billion ($2.2b).
Gianni Versace founded his namesake brand in 1978, and when he died in 1997, his sister Donatella took over creative direction. In March, Donatella was replaced by Dario Vitale, formerly of Miu Miu - itself a subsidiary of Prada - and appointed Versace’s chief brand ambassador. Then in April, the Prada Group said it was purchasing Versace.
As The Washington Post’s then-fashion critic Rachel Tashjian wrote at the time, the move put two of fashion’s most prominent women, who couldn’t have been more different, into direct juxtaposition: “Miuccia Prada, the intellectual matriarch of an old-money fashion behemoth from the chilly, stylish north comes together with Donatella Versace, the up-from-her-bootstraps, pop-culture-obsessed babe of the country’s rough, parochial south.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Like much of the luxury fashion industry, Versace has seen its sales suffer as a result of the recent downturn in demand. (The “quiet luxury” trend of the last few years, too, has probably hurt the demand for Versace’s loud-and-proud, over-the-top sexy designs.) Versace’s previous parent company, Capri Holdings, put it up for sale in February.
The Prada Group, by contrast, has weathered the shift in demand more successfully, buoyed by sales of Miu Miu’s youthful, playful designs.
Versace joins a robust lineup of luxury brands under the Prada Group, which also owns the footwear brands Church’s and Car Shoe, as well as the sailing team Luna Rossa.
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