Donatella's Only Gripe With Rehab Was The Lack Of High Heels

You may know Donatella Versace​ as the very tanned, very blonde creative director of her brother's eponymous fashion house, but you may not have known these tidbits — the designer has a particular disdain for a fellow fashion insider, she used to have a serious cocaine problem that drove her to rehab, and she's way more business savvy than you'd think. Check out my three favorite quotes from her interview with Newsweek below --

On her cocaine addiction -
 The turning point came in 2004, when a party thrown for the 18th birthday of her daughter Allegra became an intervention for Donatella, who flew to rehab that night with minimal fuss. “The only thing she complained about," Sozzani says, “was not being able to wear high heels. She said, ‘I can give up anything, but not my high heels.’ She’s totally ironic and self-aware."

On her not-so-fondess of Roberto Cavalli -
She’s not so kind about Cavalli, the Italian designer who’s become a favorite among the Euro set, largely by combing the Versace archive for endless inspiration. “I think that to do a collection—how do you say—as an homage to Versace, this is fine. But when you do a lot of collections as an homage to Versace—why? What’s the point?" She sees a look of concern on the face of her PR person, who’s sitting across from her. “Was I a beetch?" Donatella asks. Then she bursts out laughing.

On designing with the consumer in mind -
"When the 2008 financial crisis happened, everyone did safe clothes thinking people would invest money in an outfit they could wear again and again and again," she says. “Well, nothing could be wronger than that. It turned out to be the opposite. People with money were looking for special pieces. They want something recognizable, so I captured this feeling very early."