Donatella Takes Plaque, Debuts New Rodeo Look
Can a plaque embedded in cement cause a sense of occasion? The Rodeo Drive Committee hopes so. The organization of Rodeo boutique owners and managers, invested with the task of creating even more excitement about the venerable retail street in Beverly Hills, awarded a plaque on the street’s Rodeo Drive Walk of Style to Gianni and Donatella Versace on Feb. 7. The ceremony took place before a party noting the official debut of the remodel of the Versace boutique on Via Rodeo. The fashion house’s creative director, Donatella Versace, accepted the plaque on behalf of herself and her late brother Gianni. While guests, including actor Rupert Everett, sipped champagne and dined on hors d’oeuvres such as potato cregrave;me fraicirc;che with caviar, Randy Soto, the president of the Rodeo Drive Committee, surveyed the crowd and hoped the plaques would attract greater crowds of people to the retail thoroughfare. “It brings business to the street. [The Walk of Style] encapsulates fashion and glamour,” Soto said. The 7,000-square-foot boutique also represents a new direction for Versace, according to Roberto Lorenzini, the president and chief operating officer of Versace USA Inc.’s retail division. The first floor of the Via Rodeo store is devoted to Versace’s luxury purses, sunglasses, shoes, watches and jewelry. Versace’s ready-to-wear collection and its atelier are located on the second floor.—Andrew Asch
