Donatella Versace Quotes

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.

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

As with most things in my life, I believe you should try to enjoy yourself and never feel like you are a slave to a routine.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

When my mother did fittings for her clients, I was hiding, looking at these beautiful ladies try on these fantastic clothes. I was dreaming as a small child to try these clothes on myself.

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

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

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.

I don't even know what my natural color is. Natural? What is natural? What is that? I do not believe in totally natural for women. For me, natural has something to do with vegetables

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

I love the strength of white blonde. Some people talk about having disasters while dyeing their hair - in my opinion you can never have a blonde disaster ... I am always trying the latest products - whatever is new goes on my hair.

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.

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

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

I don't like my physique at all.

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

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.

I am not a great believer in fairy tales. Every woman should fight hard for her own happy endings. Although occasionally it is nice to wake up as a princess.

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.

Fashion is not frivolous.

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.

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.

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.

Fashion needs fresh blood, and London is the most creative place for that.

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

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

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas

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.

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

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

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

In my life I had no other choice than to become a strong person.

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

Elegance is always in style for men.

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.

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.

New York is full of creative people, not only in fashion.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

I like perfume and flowers.

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

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

How do I keep young? Haven't you heard? I sleep every night in the deep freezer!

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

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.

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

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

My mother didn't want me to be in fashion. She was in the fashion business, so was my brother, and she thought it was too crazy for me. She wanted me to be married with children, to be independent, yes, but not to have a crazy life.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Hollywood is a very inspiring place.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

You can be too boring, but you can never be too seductive.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.