Donatella Versace Starts a New Chapter With REVOLVE
Donatella Versace and REVOLVE are launching an independent beauty and fashion venture, combining her creative vision with REVOLVE’s digital-first retail platform.
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Donatella Versace is starting her next chapter with a business built around a new generation of consumers.
The legendary designer and REVOLVE Group have formed a joint venture to create a new beauty and fashion business that combines Donatella’s creative vision and cultural influence with REVOLVE’s digital-first retail platform.
The venture will be independent and led creatively by Donatella, who will serve as Chief Creative Officer. REVOLVE will power the business across technology, consumer intelligence, operations, marketing and community.
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For Donatella, the partnership is an opportunity to build outside the traditional fashion system and speak directly to the consumers she has long been watching.
“I believe creativity should be fearless, inclusive and alive in the world,” Donatella said. “I have always been inspired by the next generation, in music, film, art and, of course, fashion.”
The venture will initially launch across the United States, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Additional markets may be considered as the business develops. Its name, creative direction and first product launch have not yet been revealed. The venture will begin in beauty before expanding into fashion.
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A Different Kind of Fashion Business
The partnership brings together two businesses that approach fashion from different positions.
Donatella has spent decades building influence across fashion, music, entertainment and popular culture. REVOLVE, founded in 2003, built its business around digital discovery, social media, creators and a direct relationship with consumers.
The new company is designed to bring those worlds together.
“Donatella is one of the defining creative voices of our time,” said Michael Mente, co-founder and co-CEO of REVOLVE Group. “This partnership gives that vision an entirely new platform and the freedom to build something from the ground up.”
That freedom is central to the venture. Rather than simply placing Donatella’s name on an existing product line, the companies say she will shape the identity, products, collaborators and broader cultural world of the business.
“REVOLVE understands something I believe deeply: culture comes from connection,” Donatella said. “Together, we want to create that connection with a new voice, a new look and a new energy.”
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Donatella Takes the Creative Lead
As Chief Creative Officer, Donatella will lead the venture’s creative vision, including its identity, products, collaborators and cultural world.
REVOLVE will provide the infrastructure to operate and scale the company, including technology, consumer intelligence, operations, marketing and community.
“By combining Donatella’s creative authority with REVOLVE’s technology, infrastructure and global reach, we have an opportunity to create something genuinely distinctive and build it for the long term,” said Mike Karanikolas, co-founder and co-CEO of REVOLVE Group.
For REVOLVE, the partnership extends the model it has spent more than two decades building. The company says its platform brings together discovery, storytelling, community and commerce, connecting millions of consumers with thousands of influencers and more than 1,600 emerging, established and owned brands.
The new venture puts that infrastructure behind Donatella’s creative perspective.
“Donatella has an extraordinary instinct for what the next generation wants and an unmatched ability to connect fashion with culture,” said Raissa Gerona, president of brand and partnerships at REVOLVE Group. “That is what makes this partnership so exciting.”
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Where Culture Meets Commerce
The venture’s ambitions extend beyond products.
The companies envision a digital-first business where fashion, beauty, entertainment, talent, creators and community intersect through content, experiences, conversation and commerce.
That approach reflects the way REVOLVE has built its relationship with consumers while giving Donatella a new platform for her creative work.
“I believe creativity should be fearless, inclusive and alive in the world,” Donatella said. “This partnership gives me the freedom to speak to that generation in a completely new and personal way, through beauty and fashion.”
The first launch will begin in beauty, but the companies have not yet disclosed the venture’s name, products or launch date. Those details are expected to be revealed in the coming months.
For now, the partnership brings together two distinct strengths. REVOLVE provides the technology, consumer intelligence and global reach. Donatella brings decades of cultural influence and a creative point of view shaped by fashion, music, entertainment and popular culture.
The business will now have to turn those assets into products and a consumer brand of its own.
As Mente put it, the opportunity is to “build something from the ground up.”
