Donatella Versace Quotes & Sayings

I love the mix of people who hang out at nightclubs now. Their individuality is an inspiration to me. The music they listen to, the clothes they wear and the way they wear them defines a street style that I love. — Donatella Versace

People are always surprised when they spend time with my children by how normal they are. They're polite. They're well mannered. They're very down to earth, in a way. — Donatella Versace

My main influence is - it's music. It lifts the spirit. I am always listening to music. And sometimes what inspires me is a little sound or some small arrangement. I really do listen to music continuously all day long - very loud, so people can't stand to be around me anymore. — Donatella Versace

The man of the millennium is much more liberated than the man of the '90s. — Donatella Versace

I think people need to see Prince live to really understand how remarkable he is. He has always been inspiring because he is never afraid to break rules or barriers or invent something new - and if you love fashion, then you need to be able to do that. — Donatella Versace

Showing your femininity should help your career and not go against your career. Dressing like a man, using the suit to look powerful - that was the '80s, and that didn't help women. — Donatella Versace

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas — Donatella Versace

I like to eat. Definitely. I love sitting around a table with my friends. But I don't know how to cook anything. — Donatella Versace

When I meet celebrities, I have to know what they are like and only then can I design. The clothes have to fit their personality. — Donatella Versace

Wear a fabulous smile, great jewelry and know that you are totally and utterly in control. — Donatella Versace

The first thing I do each morning is get out of bed and give my dog, Audrey, a hug. She's a Jack Russell. I think having an animal is a wonderful thing, particularly dogs. They are great levelers, there's no nonsense with them, and they just want simple affection. — Donatella Versace

In order to be responsible, you need some discipline in your life. For a while I lost mine. — Donatella Versace

To be Catholic puts a lot of fear in you. It's a great religion, but also one that can limit your experience. You fear experience because everything is a sin. — Donatella Versace

I know who the Versace woman is, because I wear the clothes myself. — Donatella Versace

I don't think about making sexy clothes. It's just my instinct to make them. — Donatella Versace

It's no good being too easily swayed by people's opinions. You have to believe in yourself. — Donatella Versace

I believe it is the responsibility and duty of those in high-profile positions to give a voice to people whose voices cannot be heard. — Donatella Versace

For so long Versace couture was identified with celebrities and music, which I love. But at the same time it could overwhelm the clothes. — Donatella Versace

I like perfume and flowers. — Donatella Versace

I find older men more attractive than boys. I need a man who can teach me a thing or two. — Donatella Versace

Powerful women intimidate men. If she's a really well-known woman, she has a career, she's famous - in that case, men are really afraid. — Donatella Versace

I always wear high heels - I simply feel naked without them. — Donatella Versace

I was always crazy even before the drugs, — Donatella Versace

It's good to see the children be creative. It's the pleasure of the future. — Donatella Versace

We shouldn't be copying what we see. We should try to find our own sense of style, to believe in ourselves. — Donatella Versace

I understand that the rule of fashion is to change, even as a successful designer - you do not want to be stuck in the same rut. — Donatella Versace

I'm a designer, and I work very hard at that. People sometimes want to put down fashion by saying it's frivolous or superficial, but it's not that way at all. It's actually very hard work. — Donatella Versace

If I could dress anyone, I'd like to dress the Queen - she can handle anything. I'd put her in black - she never wears black - and add a little leather, maybe. A little rock n' roll. — Donatella Versace

Fashion is not frivolous. I am a businesswoman, a very serious person. — Donatella Versace

Scent is very important. Strong fragrances suit some men, while citrus types suit others. I like my men to smell fresh and woody, but also like a man. — Donatella Versace

Lady Gaga is the present and the future. She is the most revolutionary and inspirational artist. She is fearless and daring. — Donatella Versace

The three biggest fashion mistakes are cheap suits, shoes, and shirts. Spend your money on something good. — Donatella Versace

Feminism is dead in the world. It comes from another time. I'm a feminist. I want to fight, but I don't see many people with this desire to fight for something. Women don't help each other, especially in fashion. — Donatella Versace

I'm like a little kid when it comes to music. I mean, the music is always blasting wherever I am that people always knock on my door and say, 'It's too loud!' But I think music gives so much inspiration. — Donatella Versace

My style is not that big. I wear heels, tight pants, and I wear diamonds. — Donatella Versace

Some men look great unshaven; others just look like they forgot to shave. Beards and mustaches can be really distinctive if you go for an earthy, rock-and-roll look like the Kings of Leon or the Killers. — Donatella Versace

Some say the economy means that you have to persuade people to invest in clothes - to buy less things but more expensive things. I disagree - invest in jewelry, or a house, maybe, but not in fashion. — Donatella Versace

It would be very easy for us to do a collection that everybody would like and not criticize. But criticism is a part of life. You have to take it. — Donatella Versace

I think glamour all the time. I wake up in the morning and I'm already thinking glamour. — Donatella Versace

I was a fashion addict by the time I was 11 years old. I'd wear a miniskirt and patent-leather boots. — Donatella Versace

Women are all the same; we want to be smaller in the waist, longer legs, slimmer. I design for women and their defects, to make them better. — Donatella Versace

In Italian there is an expression: We don't sleep on the fame. — Donatella Versace

You can have small moments of happiness in life. You certainly can't expect years and years of it. — Donatella Versace

Alexander McQueen ... The fashion world has not only lost an icon but we have also lost a very special friend. — Donatella Versace

I wake up at about the same time every day. I sleep well and wake without an alarm clock. — Donatella Versace

Fashion is all about happiness. It's fun. It's important. But it's not medicine. — Donatella Versace

Many young people don't know what Versace represent. I want to show what makes Versace an iconic brand. — Donatella Versace

I have worked with wool all my life as a designer. There's so much more to it than knitwear - it's an amazingly versatile material and can be used in so many different ways from chic to rustic. — Donatella Versace

Giving up my heels was harder than giving up the drugs. — Donatella Versace

I think my own look makes people think I'm tough, but when they get to know me I'm very different. — Donatella Versace

I go from a full working day to making sure I am home for dinner with my kids. I couldn't do that in a 10cm mini skirt but I am not going to resort to sweatpants and an old t-shirt. — Donatella Versace

I love anyone who breaks the rules, and musicians always break the rules - in an aggressive way. — Donatella Versace

For me, music gives a voice to fashion. — Donatella Versace

What is comfortable fashion? To be comfortable, that can't be in the vocabulary of fashion. If you want to be comfortable, stay home in your pajamas. — Donatella Versace

I have an image of what a British gentleman looks like, and that image finds real expression in Prince Charles. He is beyond fashion - he is an archetype of style. — Donatella Versace

For me the safety pin is about rebellion, and I'm punk in the soul. — Donatella Versace

We all retire one day. If we want to, if we don't want to. — Donatella Versace

Hollywood is a very inspiring place. — Donatella Versace

You can never forget the time you're living in because the past is the past and it will never come back. So to adjust your philosophy and creativity in fashion to the time you're living in is the most important thing. — Donatella Versace

In mythology, the Medusa can petrify people with a look - which is a good thing, I think. But the Medusa is a unique symbol - something strong. It's about going all the way. — Donatella Versace

During the eighties and nineties, people wanted to be chic, elegant, bourgeois. — Donatella Versace

To define the era we live in is very difficult. How do we define it? We define it by music. — Donatella Versace

On a hanger, no dress is sexy. It's just fabric on a hanger. — Donatella Versace

When I work, I wear pants usually because I want to be comfortable. I wear dark colors, especially in winter, because I don't want to concentrate on myself but on what I'm working on. Because I really, really love clothes, I can start to think too much about myself. It's distracting. — Donatella Versace

Fashion is a weapon that you can use when you need it. — Donatella Versace

My muse changes all the time because I think every designer is a bit of a muse for themselves in a way - they just don't want to say it. — Donatella Versace

Women's bodies are curvy, sensual, it's about being happy to be a woman - and sexy is always good — Donatella Versace

The body should be reconfigured by the clothes, never again the other way round. — Donatella Versace

In fashion, only sexy won't go out of fashion. — Donatella Versace

I don't like my physique at all. — Donatella Versace

I've learned how to appreciate what I have. And it's a lot. I'm very lucky. — Donatella Versace

I don't like balance. Balance is not a word you can use in Versace fashion. — Donatella Versace

You can't pretend that everybody likes Versace. It would be boring. It's better to create a reaction than to create no reaction. That's dangerous. — Donatella Versace

I don't see anybody categorized as a 'fashion diva,' except for me! And I like that. I am thought of as a diva because I wear an evening dress and I take care of my look when I go out. I go to parties regarding business, not for fun. And that's why they call me a 'diva.' — Donatella Versace

I think I asphyxiated my children. — Donatella Versace

You couldn't define the '80s when the '80s were happening. We kept changing. We had shoulder pads, then we didn't. It was revealing, and then it was decoration. It was a lot of things at once. It was defined when it was over. — Donatella Versace

A business woman needs a successful mix of design and practicality. — Donatella Versace

Something has to change in the world. Without change, young people will have no future. — Donatella Versace

Fashion is not frivolous. — Donatella Versace

I think there was a time when I was too strict and controlling. I think I asphyxiated my children. — Donatella Versace

I studied at a university in Florence and finished my degree. My mother was very strict about this recipe: You need to get your degree. — Donatella Versace

Fashion is about dreaming and making other people dream. — Donatella Versace

Plus-sized women shouldn't think of themselves as a size. They should think of themselves as women with rich goals in life. Size doesn't mean, really, anything. You can carry your size with pride and dress in a way that you like. — Donatella Versace

I'd need an incredibly talented make up artist to make me look natural! — Donatella Versace

Sometimes big designers are afraid that people won't recognize them if they change that much. — Donatella Versace

Gianni created the whole thing. I came later and helped him. — Donatella Versace

It's very important for a brand to have an identity through the years, but it's very important as well to evolve because times change so fast. — Donatella Versace

I do think that exercise is important, not only to keep you in shape but also for your state of mind. However, I am not fanatical about it. — Donatella Versace

The suit does not represent the businessman anymore. Nor does the loud shirt represent the rock star. The same man can now wear both. — Donatella Versace

At that time of the supermodels, celebrities didn't want to be in fashion; they thought they were more intellectual and interesting than anyone in fashion. — Donatella Versace

I think sex is part of life, like eating and breathing. — Donatella Versace

You can be too boring, but you can never be too seductive. — Donatella Versace

There's time to slow down, after you're dead. — Donatella Versace

I love Alexander McQueen. I like the construction of his suits. I think it's fantastic. — Donatella Versace

Let's just say beauty inspires me. But I like all beauty - I think it really comes from the inside out. — Donatella Versace

Women should be sure of themselves because women have a lot of capacities. We can achieve so many different things that men cannot. I think women are stronger. — Donatella Versace

I think men know to seduce women though words and conversation and nice gestures. That's much sexier than when a man uses muscle. — Donatella Versace

Elegance is always in style for men. There are all different kinds of elegance. It can be silk, it can be a T-shirt. — Donatella Versace

Richard Avedon is a true genius of photography and one of the greatest artists of our time. — Donatella Versace

In fashion, women have more sensitivity, more sense of the body, so they know how things fit and feel. Yet there are not many women who study fashion. It's ridiculous. — Donatella Versace