U.S. fashion giant Michael Kors, has bought Italian fashion house Versace for $2 billion.
According to Reuters, Donatella Versace, sister to late Gianni Versace, the founder called a staff meeting to make the announcement on Tuesday.
For Donatella, who paid tribute to her brother Gianni last September with a catwalk show that seemed to signal the end of that era in the brand’s history, this could mean the dawn of a new one.
Versace is a globally recognised brand, synonymous with the glamazon supermodels and fashion excesses of the ’80s and ’90s.
Gianni Versace also worked closely with Princess Diana, and was partly responsible for her sleek makeover in the years leading up to her death; so close were they that she attended the designer’s funeral.
Gianni’s death in 1997 came under the spotlight earlier this year with the release of the Emmy-winning series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Versace was one of the last remaining independent labels in the luxury fashion industry, with 80 per cent of the company still owned by the founding family at the time of the sale.
A twenty per cent stake was sold for €210m to American private equity firm Blackstock in 2014 to fund overseas expansion.