Interview

In the past few years, when the ’80s came back in a big way on runways, the one house with the greatest claim to (and archives of) that decade resisted the backward glance. Donatella Versace, who took the reins of the 31-year-old family brand in 1997, has marked herself not as a designer soaking up glamour by osmosis, but as one of the few fashion masterminds who has been able to connect the essential values of sexiness and the body with an interest in new fabric technology. Basically, Donatella is a woman obsessed with the future. Sure, she loves to sit around at extravagant dinners with her friends and family, talking about love and life. She’s Italian. And she has great stories of her days with her brother Gianni, a man who defined the ’80s and then went on to create the ’90s. But Donatella’s own story is all about going forward. She’s a huge music junkie, cranking up the volume while she works on the men’s and women’s collections in her Milanese studio. (Maybe she’s been listening to Metallica lately, because metal plays such a key role in her Fall collection). One of her favorite soundtracks is the rock refrains of her longtime friend Lenny Kravitz, who was doing his own looking back this year with the 20th anniversary re-release of his first album, Let Love Rule. The two caught up to talk about fashion, music, and family—past, present, and future.

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DONATELLA VERSACE: How long have we known each other? For almost 20 years now.

LENNY KRAVITZ: Almost. A little less, because I met you just after my second album came out. It was when Gianni had that big show at the ParkAvenue Armory in New York. Do you remember?

VERSACE: Yes, of course I do. That was 1992.

KRAVITZ: I believe that was actually the first time that a rock ’n’ roll band was onstage during a fashion show.

VERSACE: It was the very, very first time in fashion, when Gianni asked you to come and perform for us. It was amazing. All the supermodels were there: Cindy, Naomi, Christy . . . It was a magical moment.

KRAVITZ: It was to raise money for AIDS, too, right?

VERSACE: Yes, a charity for AIDs. The runway went from one side of the hall to the other, with the models coming out one way and going back another. And there was Lenny performing.

KRAVITZ: Those were the supermodel days! [laughs]

VERSACE: Whenever I see Cindy or Christy, they still talk about that day. They ask, “Why don’t we do something like that again?”

KRAVITZ: Why don’t things like that happen more often?

VERSACE: The reason that happened was because Gianni was a pioneer. And me, too, because I love mixing fashion and music . . . It runs in the family.