With her unfaltering style and business acumen, the ever-fabulous purveyor of glamour is the powerhouse behind maintaining the success of the Versace brand since taking over from her brother Gianni. Assuming the reins of the Versace brand, the Italian fashion designer has stepped up from muse and critic to Chief Designer and ultimate trend setter in her own right.

Although we were always confident in Donatella’s design credentials, having steered one of the labels most popular diffusion lines Versus for over a decade, the designer instantly brought a new sensibility to the house of Versace. Donatella has fashioned a label more in tune with the career woman whilst remaining true to Gianni’s theatrical ethos.

Ever the consummate businesswoman, Donatella has also played a major part in revolutionising fashion advertising and is accredited as the first designer to use notable celebrities in her global campaigns. With a role call of stars, including the fronting and backing the brand, Donatella has catapulted Versace into the echelons of cult style status.

Since her first couture show for Versace Atelier in 1998, which included a spectacular glass catwalk spanning the pool of the Paris Ritz, Donatella now oversees the production of a dozen collections each year. She’s also branched out of the fashion pen with a home furnishings range for the opulent Burj Al Arab hotel – the success of which she aims to replicate in her very own Dubai hotel as well as a Palazzo Versace resort on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Click here to read our exclusive q+a with Donatella Versace, taking her to task over her expereince as a judge.