Allegra Versace
{{short description|Italian American heiress and socialite}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Allegra Versace
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Allegra Versace Beck
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1986|06|30}}
| birth_place = Milan, Italy
| education = Sir James Henderson School
Brown University
UCLA
| mother = Donatella Versace
| relatives = {{plainlist|
- Santo Versace (uncle)
- Gianni Versace (uncle)
}}
|known_for = {{Plainlist|
- Heiress
- Businesswoman
- Socialite}}
|website = [https://www.versace.com/ versace.com]
}}
Allegra Versace Beck ({{IPA|it|alˈleːɡra verˈsaːtʃe ˈbɛk}}; born 30 June 1986), commonly known as Allegra Versace, is an Italian-American heiress and socialite.{{cite news |last=Cunningham |first=Jennifer |title=Is there a Versace in the house?; Allegra Beck; Aged 11, she watched TV reports flash up news that her beloved uncle, Gianni Versace, had been shot. Now she stands to inherit a 50% share of the Versace empire. But who is this girl with the power at her fingertips? |newspaper= The Herald |location=Plymouth, England|access-date=2 November 2015 |date=19 June 2004 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23570407.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225131942/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23570407.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 February 2016}} Since 2011, Allegra has been a director of Gianni Versace S.p.A.{{Cite news|url=http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/252738/Return-of-the-lost-little-rich-girl|title=Return of the lost little rich girl|last=Carpenter|first=Julie|date=15 June 2011|work=Express.co.uk|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}} and has worked in New York City as a theatrical dresser.{{cite news |last1=Emami |first1=Gazelle |last2=Moss |first2=Hilary |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/allegra-versace-anorexia_n_871819.html |title=Allegra Versace Talks Anorexia, Making A Name For Herself in Fashion |newspaper=The Huffington Post |date=8 June 2011 |access-date=12 May 2012}}{{cite news|title=Allegra Versace, 50% Versace Shareholder, Joins Company's Board |first1=Andrew |last1=Roberts |date=9 June 2011 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-06-09/allegra-versace-50-versace-shareholder-joins-company-s-board |newspaper=Bloomberg |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130091504/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-06-09/allegra-versace-50-versace-shareholder-joins-company-s-board |archive-date=30 January 2016}}
Early life and education
File:Versace mansion - casa casuarina.jpg,
Ocean Drive, Architectural District,
Miami Beach, Florida. ]]
Allegra Versace is the daughter of Italian fashion designer Donatella Versace and American ex-fashion model Paul Beck,{{cite news|title=Exclusive: Donatella & Allegra|url=http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/donatella-allegra-versace-0307|last=Ginsberg|first=Merle|newspaper=Harper's Bazaar|date=March 2007|access-date=24 December 2009|page=452|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717152210/http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/feature-articles/donatella-allegra-versace-0307|archive-date=17 July 2011}} and the niece of fashion designer Gianni Versace. She was raised outside Milan, Italy, with her younger brother Daniel. Sir Elton John gave her a piano{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/27/italy.clothes |title=Gianni's golden girl |last1=Arie |first1= Sophie |year=2004 |newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=3 November 2015 }} that she admits she never learned to play.
{{cite web
|title = Allegra Beck, la 'principessa' de Gianni Versace que nunca quiso la c…
|url = https://www.revistavanityfair.es/sociedad/celebrities/articulos/allegra-beck-sobrina-asesinato-gianni-versace-hija-donatella-principessa-anorexia-anonima-fox/28397
|date = 19 March 2019
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20190319060424/https://www.revistavanityfair.es/sociedad/celebrities/articulos/allegra-beck-sobrina-asesinato-gianni-versace-hija-donatella-principessa-anorexia-anonima-fox/28397
|archive-date = 19 March 2019
|access-date = 19 March 2019
|url-status = live
|df = dmy-all
}}
As a child, she took ballet classes for nine years and is to this day a huge admirer of ballet. She credits her uncle Gianni as having instilled in her this lifelong passion for ballet. For one of her birthdays, he introduced her to Maurice Béjart.
Versace attended The British School of Milan, then known as "The Sir James Henderson School",{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/1465961/Wealthy-princess-marks-coming-of-age.html | title=Wealthy 'princess' marks coming of age | work=The Daily Telegraph | date=2 July 2001 | access-date=3 November 2015 | last=Fenton | first=Ben}} where she was tightly guarded.{{cite book |last1=Ball |first1=Deborah |title=House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival |date=2011 |publisher=Crown Publishing Group |isbn=9780307406521 |edition=Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyPxb_x2heAC&q=%22British+School+of+Milan%22&pg=PA228 |access-date=19 March 2019}} Following the completion of secondary education, she went abroad, first to Brown University in Rhode Island, then in 2006, she enrolled at UCLA, where she studied French, art history, and theatre.{{cite news | url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/sunday-heraldsun/saddest-girl-in-the-world/story-e6frf92x-1111113259990 | title=Saddest girl in the world | date=1 April 2007 | access-date=3 November 2015 | last=Hellard | first=Peta | newspaper=Herald Sun | quote=late last year she shifted to Los Angeles to study acting, French and art history at a Californian university, UCLA.}}
Inheritance of Versace
Allegra Versace was eleven years old when her uncle Gianni Versace was fatally shot outside his Miami mansion in July 1997.{{cite news |last1=Guest |first1=Katy |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/19/1090089096077.html |title=Poor little super rich kids |newspaper=The Age |date=20 July 2004 |access-date=13 August 2011}} Her mother immediately sought counseling for her. On her 18th birthday, she received 50% ownership of Gianni Versace S.p.A.{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/01/1088488097542.html?from=storyrhs |title=Versace niece's $700m birthday gift |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 July 2004 |access-date=25 June 2014}} Allegra's uncle Santo Versace already owned 30% of the fashion empire, and her mother already owned 20%, but due to a long-standing disagreement between the two, the remaining 50% of the Versace empire was bequeathed by Gianni to Allegra. Allegra instantly became worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Despite legally being able to claim full control of her inheritance at the age of 18, she opted to focus entirely on her studies and did not begin real participation in the business of Versace until she was 24.
Personal life
She has struggled with anorexia nervosa.{{cite news |title=Allegra On Gianni |url=https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/allegra-beck-on-uncle-gianni-versace-and-anorexia |access-date=15 July 2021 |work=British Vogue |date=7 June 2011}}{{cite news |last1=Pomeroy |first1=Robin |title=Versace heiress "battling anorexia", says Donatella |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-versace-anorexia/versace-heiress-battling-anorexia-says-donatella-idUSL2862552820070328 |access-date=15 July 2021 |work=Reuters |date=28 March 2007 |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{official|https://www.versace.com/us/en-us/home}}
{{sister project links |1=Versace |collapsible=true |display=Versace |commonscat= |commons= |b=no |n= |q=no |s= |species=no |species_author=no |v=no |voy= |wikt=no}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Versace, Allegra}}
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:Fashion designers from Milan
Category:Italian women fashion designers
Category:Italian fashion designers
Category:Italian people of American descent
Category:21st-century Italian businesswomen
Category:21st-century Italian businesspeople