Donatella Versace x Givenchy - Rethink the family concept

Donatella Versace is the face of Givenchy AW15 campaign.

Riccardo Tisci's appreciation for the Versace family is well known. In several interviews the designer stressed his admiration for Gianni Versace and his brand, which for nearly 20 years now has been successfully managed by his sister Donatella.

Among the things you may know about Riccardo Tisci there's its frantic search for the "right" faces for his campaigns. In the latest interview for i-D magazine he said that for the men's FW campaign he went searching for models on the streets of USA, Brazil and Cuba. The faces proposed by the agencies were all beautiful, but lacked that essential particular to be part of the family. This is exactly the concept the brand is based on: being part of a group which shares ideals and aesthetics. Just think of the images of Julia Roberts, Kanye West and Lea T in the recent advertising campaigns of the brand.

The campaign with Donatella was shot by Mert & Marcus, styled by Carine Roitfeld. All have been members of the family for years, these are the only details we have.

On Givenchy’s Instagram Riccardo wrote: "So proud and honored to introduce my new ultimate icon: Donatella Versace... FW15 Givenchy Family Campaign MORE TO COME SOON" for a total of 27.000 like. Same record for Versace: "For my talented friend Riccardo. Together we break boundaries fashion today".

The real question now is: will there be a collaboration? Should we expect a capsule collection Versace x Givenchy? And if it was just a personal favour done to a colleague, what would the implications in terms of earnings be? The idea of an Italian fashion crew could really create a brand new fashion giant.

Digging into the past we only found one campaign in which an iconic designer lent his face to another brand, and is the one of 1993 with Sonia Rykiel and Saint Laurent who spoke of Kookai in an ironic way.

The most influential brands of the moment are thinking with antithetical philosophies, which lead to success anyway.

And Donatella, on her 60s, she still manages to surprise us.