Customers look at a Prada shop window, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
MILAN – The Prada Group closed the purchase of Milan fashion rival Versace in a $1.375 billion cash deal that puts the fashion house known for its sexy silhouettes under the same roof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and Miu Miu ’s youth-driven appeal.
The highly anticipated deal is expected to relaunch Versace’s fortunes, after middling post-pandemic performance as part of the U.S. luxury group Capri Holdings.
Prada said in a one-line statement that the acquisition had been completed after receiving all regulatory clearances. Capri Holdings, which owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, said the money would be used to pay down debt.
Donatella Versace welcomed the deal in an Instagram post, which also marked the birthday of the brand’s late founder, her brother, Gianni Versace.
“Today is your day and the day Versace joins the Prada family. I am thinking of the smile you would have had on your face,” she wrote in a post that also featured a 1996 photo of Gianni Versace with Miuccia Prada.
Prada heir Lorenzo Bertelli is set to steer Versace’s next phase as executive chairman, in addition to his roles as group marketing director and sustainability chief.
The son of co-creative director Miuccia Prada and longtime Prada Group chairman Patrizio Bertelli has said he doesn’t expect to make any swift executive changes at Versace, although he also noted that the company, which is among the top 10 most recognized brands in the world, has long been underperforming in the market.
Prada has underlined that the 47-year-old Versace brand offered “significant untapped growth potential.’’
The appeal of the deal is that it combines “the minimalist Prada (with) a maximalist Versace,” said Luca Solca, managing director for the luxury sector at the Sanford C. Bernstein research firm, meaning that the brands don’t compete for the same customers.
Versace is “long past its heyday,” Solca said. ”The challenge and the opportunity is to make it relevant again.. .. They are going to have to invent something which is going to make the brand attractive, desirable and interesting again.”
Versace already has begun a creative relaunch under a new designer, Dario Vitale, who previewed his first collection during Milan Fashion Week in September. He was previously head of design at Miu Miu, but his move to Versace was unrelated to the Prada deal, executives have said.
The runway show received mixed reviews, but the collection itself — a colorful, revealing riff on the 1980s — got good feedback from buyers. “I think that this seems to be a promising first step,” Solca said.
