Dario Vitale Is Exiting Versace After Less Than 9 Months

When Dario Vitale’s first collection for Versace debuted in September, things were looking extremely promising for the fabled Italian fashion label. Following almost three decades of creative leadership by Donatella Versace, the brand’s newly minted creative director was poised to re-energize Versace. “Am I a Versace Guy Now?” mused GQ’s Samuel Hine in his glowing review of the audacious, ’80s-inspired collection. Now, just a few months later, the House of Medusa is once again in transition following its acquisition by Prada Group and Vitale’s sudden departure.

Vitale took the reins at Versace in April, a month after Donatella stepped down as creative director. Ms. Versace, who is now 70, took over the role after her brother Gianni’s murder in 2007, and crafted the brand’s 21st-century identity in her own sensual, unapologetically maximalist image. To quote Hine, “Her Versace was perpetually tanned and coiffed to high heaven.”

When Vitale arrived last spring, it marked the end of an era. While Vitale was just the third person to lead the brand since its founding in 1978, he was far from unproven, having spent the past 15 years working his way up the ladder at Miu Miu, eventually rising to the rank of design and image director, a trajectory that coincided with Miu Miu’s commercial and cultural boom.