Santo Versace

Santo Domenico Versace was born on December 16, 1944 in Reggio Calabria, Italy, to father Antonio and mother Francesca, who was a dressmaker and owned a boutique. He grew up with his younger brother Gianni and younger sister Donatella. He also had an elder sister, Tina, who died when she was 12, due to tetanus infection. When Santo was six, he started working with his father after school and continued to do so till he went to attend university. He graduated in 1968 from the University of Messina with a degree in economics.

He married Christiana Cavalli in 1981. They have two children, Francesca Christiana and Antonio Tina Santo. After 23 years of marriage, the couple divorced in 2004. Santo remarried lawyer Francesca de Stefano in 2014 and they have a daughter, Ramona Francesca.

Santo Versace was very shocked by his brother Gianni’s murder in 1997. Gianni was then 50. He was shot and killed on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by the serial killer Andrew Cunanan.

In 1968, after Santo Domenico Versace graduated from the university, he joined Credito Italiano in Reggio Calabria as a banker. Later he joined a high school as a teacher of economics and geography. In 1972, after he completed his military service, he opened his own accounting office in Reggio Calabria and Milan. In 1976, he moved to Milan, and joined his brother’s company, Gianni Versace SpA, as CEO, when it was founded in 1977. He is in-charge of several departments like sales, distribution, production and finance, and he helped the brand grow by focusing on communication, organization, productivity, and quality.

Meanwhile, in 1998, Santo was appointed President of the Italian Fashion Chamber, where he served for a year. In the same year, he became a shareholder of Viola Reggio Calabria Basketball.

After the death of Gianni, Santo took over 30 per cent of the company. His sister Donatella owns 20 per cent and her daughter Allegra Beck is now the top heir, as she inherited 50 per cent of the company when she turned 18.