Allegra Beck has just inherited her 50 per cent share of the Versace empire. It could be a poisoned chalice, writes Deirdre McQuillan
Not every l8 year old gets a birthday present of a 50% stake in a private fashion empire worth 400 million euros as well as a palazzo on Lake Como and a town house in New York. Not many teenagers need four bodyguards for protection either, but Allegra Beck, the daughter of Donatella Versace and her estranged husband, former US model Paul Beck, is not your average heiress. On Wednesday (30 June) the niece of the late Gianni Versace, turned l8 and took legal possession of the enormous inheritance left to her by her uncle, murdered outside his Miami mansion in l997. Guests at her celebratory party in Milan the previous Saturday entertained by the rock hip hop star Pharell Williams, included Silvio Berlusconi's daughter, Eleonora and Sting's daughters Kate and Eliot Pauline Sumner. Beck is now one of the richest young women in the world.
Though she first appeared as a model on the catwalk at the age of eight, Beck, who has just finished school, is said to be more interested in theatre and history than high fashion and is due to start a drama degree in the US later this year. The key question now is what will happen to the house of Versace with this shift in the balance of power. Many commentators have drawn comparisons between her and Athina Onassis, the granddaughter of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis who inherited a three billion dollar fortune last year, also at the age of l8.
Since the death of Gianni Versace who built up his mighty international private empire in just over ten years, the company has been run by his sister and brother, Donatella and Santo who own 20 and 30% respectively. Versace became - and still is - a byword for raunchy, high voltage, predatory clothes endorsed by flashy, showbiz celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Liz Hurley and Christina Aguilera. Sexy safety pin dresses, studded cowboy leathers and lavishly beaded heraldic prints worn by supermodels expressed the spirit of the times and the shameless, unrestrained extravagance of the l990s.
The mood is different today, however, and despite the firm and heavily jewelled hand of Donatella at the helm and brand extensions into Barbie doll designs, a hotel on Australia's Gold Coast and even entire Versace designed houses, there are growing financial troubles in the empire where the gilt is beginning to lose its shineu. 2003 saw a drop of l7.2% in sales to 400 million euro from the previous year and despite severe cost cutting efforts, with 200 job losses and many proposed shop closures, net losses amounted to 40 million euros at the end of 2003. Last season, Donatella announced that Versace will no longer show haute couture in Paris, for example, a saving of $l million and there are efforts to increase licensing deals.
Next Monday (5 July) after the company's shareholders meeting in Milan, the name of a new minority investor is to be announced, part of an eventual plan to make the house public.
Despite Donatella's marginally more restrained fashion focus, the Versace look is still unquestionably one of hard rock chic glitter and many would argue that Versace has lost its way, upstaged and overtaken by other successful Italian brands like Prada, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana which have wider and more modern appeal. In Ireland, Brown Thomas has been carrying the label successfully for the past four seasons, but in small, focussed quantities bought with specific customers in mind.
According to Shelly Corkery, BT's Head of Fashion Direction, there is a demand and the Irish customer "is a girl who goes to balls, to charity lunches and is a fashion victim definitely. People want to look like they're wearing Versace and want pieces they would die for. Donatella has done very well and this season has been a very good one for us, but everything is moving forward. There are a lot of show-off, over the top pieces, but there are also understated, prettier and softer things as well. It is really important for the brand to keep its luxury and excitement," she says.
In London this week, at the fearsomely guarded Versace flagship store in Bond Street, business was not particularly brisk even with 30% sale discounts and shop assistants seemed unconcerned and nonplussed when asked if they thought Allegra would change things. "Donatella is the designer", they shrugged. Their best selling jeans - a pair of slashed, faded denims embellished with a brown chained corsage - cost £220 in the sale and it was hard not to feel sorry for someone who would want them. Downstairs, fake leopard skin couches remained empty in the shoe department which sported a range of thonged, tarty styles glittering with diamante. On the first floor, among the rather pretty pink print silk jackets and leggings that Britney likes to wear, were poison green snakeskin waistcoats, white heavily tooled leather jackets and provocative skin-tight corset dresses. The most inexpensive item was a t-shirt branded with the unmistakable image of the platinum maned Donatella herself. Beside it hung a gold leather bikini.
Deliveries to Ireland of the women's autumn/winter 2004 collection arrive in Brown Thomas in a few weeks time. Customers can decide for themselves if a cream cashmere coat, for example, with a rabbit fur collar, rich and luxurious, is worth its 2,000 euro price tag. Given the choice between that and a Chanel suit, no prizes for guessing what most stylish women would prefer. Allegra has a tough job ahead.