“She’s A Woman After My Own Heart”: Why Donatella Versace Chose Anne Hathaway to Front a Very Personal Collection

Anne Hathaway has navigated her years in the spotlight in a flurry of lace, tulle, sequins and—in one memorable instance—a high-fashion puffer. But even after the subtle yet significant style pivot that coincided with her 40th birthday (and made Vogue sit up and take notice), when it comes to life away from the red carpet, Anne, like most women, wants an edited capsule wardrobe of classics she can turn to time and again. 

Enter Donatella Versace, who aims to provide exactly that with her new Versace Icons collection, an edit of essentials that draws on the designer’s own closet—as well as the house’s decades of experience dressing powerful women, from Princess Diana to Michelle Obama to Lady Gaga. The designer hand-picked Hathaway as a face of the campaign, which finds her wearing a sculpted bustier corset styled with jeans, a black jersey dress with Medusa detailing on the straps inspired by the spring 1996 collection (“It reminds me of Moonstruck!” says Anne), and a fitted black grain de poudre suit based on Donatella’s own day-to-day uniform.

Anne “loves and understands great clothes”, says the designer, who, when asked about the pieces she personally couldn’t live without, starts with “black pants—always. Amazing tailored trousers that fit superbly. Long black trousers with a platform boot underneath are an essential for me, and a great black tailored jacket,” adds Donatella. “Beautifully made, perfectly fitted. Fierce. A little reminder about who is in charge!”

Donatella has “long admired Anne because she is an extraordinary artist with a strong point of view about her career”, she says. “She also uses her platform for good as a UN goodwill ambassador. She is a woman after my own heart.” As for the Versace woman Anne embodies in the Icons collection, which is available from 3 April: “She’s a little bit dangerous,” says the designer in behind-the-scenes video footage captured on the set of the campaign shoot. “Dangerous but sexy.”

Hathaway has turned to Donatella’s unmistakable brand of Italian glamour on many occasions in the past—the star wore Atelier Versace sequins to make her return to the red carpet at the 2020 Critics’ Choice Awards following the birth of her second child, and more recently attended Versace’s blockbuster fall 2023 runway show in L.A. wearing a high-shine LBD and a very Donatella pair of platform boots. Sure enough, the designer cites that particular outing from Anne as a personal favourite. “The perfect little black dress.”

Hathaway herself sums up the new Versace Icons collection as “timeless elegance with an edge”. But it was not only the clothes that left a lasting impression on her, but also Donatella’s “heart, generosity and kindness”. “She and everyone in the Versace family have been so incredibly welcoming and supportive of me,” Hathaway says. “What a thrill to be a Versace woman!”