MILAN — Versace is now officially part of the Prada Group, having received the final green light from regulators to complete the deal — and an endorsement from Donatella Versace herself.
In her Instagram post on Tuesday, marking her brother Gianni’s birth date “and the day Versace joins the Prada family,” the designer added “I am thinking of the smile you would have had on your face.”
In one image above the caption, Gianni is seen in his atelier in 1979, surrounded by clothes and fabrics, while in the second image, photographed by Karl Lagerfeld for Vanity Fair in 1996 at the Jungle Sound Studio in Milan, he is captured with Miuccia Prada, both sitting behind musical scores and smiling broadly. He is holding a violin, she a cello.
Shares of the Prada Group were not really influenced by this new development, closing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange down 0.8 percent at 46.10 Hong Kong dollars on Tuesday, the day the approval was expected.
But the deal has sparked plenty of speculation about just what comes next.
While not much could be said before the official closing, one thing has been ascertained. Lorenzo Bertelli, head of CSR at the Prada Group, and the son of Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada, is expected to take on the role of executive chairman of Versace. As reported, he was said to be especially keen to acquire the Milan-based luxury brand.
Long-term Management and Creative Direction Speculation
On the other hand, questions about the future of Emmanuel Gintzburger, chief executive officer of Versace, linger. Prada Group CEO Andrea Guerra told analysts on a call in April that “we will begin the job with him.”
The Prada Group, which also controls the Miu Miu, Car Shoe and Church’s brands, agreed to buy Versace from Capri Holdings for an enterprise value of 1.25 billion euros, shortly after Donatella Versace was named chief brand ambassador and left the creative director role after almost three decades at the helm of the brand.
Donatella Versace
Courtesy image
John Idol, CEO of Capri, which continues to own Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, has said proceeds from the sale would be used “to repay the majority” of the company’s debt and repurchase shares.
In 2018, Donatella Versace cut a $2.1 billion deal to sell her family’s company to Michael Kors Holdings, which quickly changed its name to Capri Holdings.
However, Versace never really took off under Capri and the brand went through a period of declines. Capri, reporting its fiscal fourth-quarter figures, said Versace’s revenue fell 21.2 percent to $208 million. The Versace business was not included in Capri‘s first-quarter sales as it is being categorized as a discontinued operation.
Donatella Versace was succeeded by Miu Miu alum Dario Vitale, who unveiled his first collection in September, receiving positive reviews from retailers for his colorful and audacious designs that he said embraced Gianni Versace’s legacy. However, after first teasing that it would be “an intimate presentation,” Vitale actually held a fashion show at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana museum, unveiling a collection with a streetwear sensibility that left some Versace customers baffled about the new direction of the brand.
While market sources believe Vitale’s contract has been renewed at least until February when he is expected to show his fall collection for the brand and that he is working all-hours with this team and scouting locations, other observers wonder about the long-term future of the designer.
He is no stranger to the Prada Group as he was previously ready-to-wear design director at Miu Miu, which he left in January. Market sources say that Vitale, who in March was appointed chief creative officer of Versace, was actually eyeing a future outside of the Prada Group and that this reunion was not part of his plans. During that April call with analysts, Guerra underscored that Vitale’s exit from Miu Miu was “his own decision, independent and very personal,” and that it was not the harbinger of this acquisition. Also, sources believe that Prada’s top brass does not take any departure well, especially from longtime employees.
Names have been thrown in the mix, from Anthony Vaccarello, who was named creative head of the Versus line in 2015, to Pieter Mulier, although both seem to be firmly ensconced at Saint Laurent and Alaïa, respectively. Hedi Slimane, perpetually rumored to be joining one brand or another, and Riccardo Tisci, who was expected to be joining Versace in 2017, have also been mentioned, as well as a return of Donatella Versace herself.
Dario Vitale
Stef Mitchell/Courtesy of Versace
Miuccia Prada will not be involved in the creative process of Versace, Guerra has said.
The executive has also said repeatedly that it will take time to turn Versace around. “It’s important not to kill the baby while you cure it. So we will go as fast as we can and as prudent as we can in terms of branding and identity positioning,” Guerra said in July.
In a recent report, Bernstein analysts concurred: “The risks around Prada’s acquisition of Versace seem clear: brand resuscitation involves a great deal of time, treasure and tolerance, assets that investors are loath to give away, particularly as ratcheting competition from other luxury brands threatens Prada and Miu Miu.” The bank also weighed in on Vitale’s debut, “which has been met with mixed reviews while his ultimate role in Versace post-acquisition remains unclear.”
Financials
Analysts have so far given generally positive reviews of the deal, confident in the group’s verticalized industrial platform and aligned with the Bertellis’ belief that there are no overlaps in terms of creativity and customers. The different aesthetic that Versace brings to the group could help buttress Prada and Miu Miu as fashion cycles pass through.
The acquisition is seen as contributing to further growth of the company, which in the first half of the year reported an 8 percent rise in revenues to 2.74 billion euros. That result was greatly helped by Miu Miu, where retail sales climbed 49 percent to 780 million euros in the first half.
Chief financial officer Andrea Bonini said at the time that Versace was expected to achieve revenues of $810 million in 2024 with an operating profit margin forecast to be high-single-digit negative.
The brand operates through a global network of 227 stores.
Upon the news of the deal in April, Lorenzo Bertelli said that “a lot of people may think that Versace is far away from the aesthetics of our existing brand portfolio, but I believe this is exactly a strength for our group, because there are no overlaps in terms of creativity and in terms of customers.”
For this reason, the acquisition “is super important to really reach new audiences and to express a different kind of message,” he said, adding he was confident in the “huge potential” of Versace.
Guerra has touted the Prada Group’s infrastructure and verticalized organization, trumpeting Versace’s “huge potential. The journey will be long and will require disciplined execution and patience. The evolution of a brand always needs time and constant focus.”
Patrizio Bertelli, chairman and executive director of the Prada Group, has often prided himself for starting back in the ’90s to build the group’s network of plants that, as of June 30, has grown in time to comprise 25 industrial facilities, of which 23 are in Italy, creating its own pipeline, from product to retail, and investing over the years in protecting Italy’s supply chain and small- and medium-sized companies.
The group invested 60 million euros in its supply chain in 2025 including a new leather goods factory near Siena and a new knitwear factory near Perugia.
