Dario Vitale exits Versace A brief but intense creative direction

It had been in the air for a while. First came the news that Dario Vitale’s debut show for Versace would be an intimate presentation. Then the news that Donatella Versace was absent from said presentation – let’s call it a bad omen. The lukewarm reviews of a first collection that nevertheless had its merits. Today, finally, confirmation: Dario Vitale is leaving Versace after just one collection.

What does the Versace acquisition have to do with it?

The new creative direction had begun right on the cusp of the brand’s handover from Capri Holdings to the Prada Group, and it was not built on solid ground. From what can be gathered, Vitale had been hired by Capri Holdings at a time when the acquisition deal by the Prada Group had already been initiated but not yet finalized. The reason there was no runway show – and here we’re reporting corridor gossip – was precisely a budget cut that led the American owners not to invest money in a brand that, besides being in the red, would no longer be theirs in a few months.

During an analyst call in April, Prada Group CEO Andrea Guerra had stated that Vitale’s move – the former Miu Miu design director – to the creative helm of Versace had been an independent and very personal decision of his own and had nothing to do with the acquisition. When pressed with questions, Guerra answered with a certain diplomatic tone: «We are happy to find him as a trusted pair of hands in such an important position for the future of the brand, we are very happy to really welcome all the team, wherever they are in the world and whatever they’re doing. We really need to be warm and give everyone the opportunity to show their impact and their talent». A response that, with the benefit of hindsight, could be described as vaguely evasive.

What happened between Vitale and the brand’s new owners?

That said, we don’t know what went on behind closed doors. Perhaps the Prada Group wanted a more high-profile creative director; perhaps Vitale (whom the Miu Miu executives had tried to keep when he resigned, as Fashion Network recalls) didn’t want to find himself working again for the same employers he had just left; perhaps certain elements of the brand’s communication strategy and the reception of the debut show did not align with the ideas of the new owners, who, more than gradual success, need an explosion of popularity to quickly recoup the huge investment made in the brand.

Other rumors claim Vitale wanted to pursue other personal projects about which, however, we know nothing. Whatever the official press releases won’t tell us, the fashion-world gossip, which is never in short supply, especially in Milan, will reveal.

Takeaways

- Dario Vitale is leaving Versace after just one collection — a departure that was widely expected due to the brand’s transition from Capri Holdings to the Prada Group, which took place just as his creative direction had barely begun.

- Insider rumors suggest the exit is linked to a lack of alignment with the new owners and to Prada’s search for a more high-profile name capable of delivering a rapid, explosive relaunch of the brand.