Allegra Beck Versace

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegra_Versace

Allegra Beck Versace (born 30 June 1986) is an Italian heiress, and major shareholder in the Gianni Versace S.p.A. company.

Early life and education

Versace is the daughter of designer Donatella Versace and ex-fashion model Paul Beck.

Raised outside Milan along with her younger brother, Daniel, Versace was described as a "serious, sensible and bright" child, "with her hair in pigtails and her nose in a history book." Through her uncle Santo, she has two first cousins: Antonio Versace and Francesca, a fashion designer and charitable socialite.

She was the favored niece of the late Gianni Versace and was eleven years old when he was murdered and left her 50% of his fashion empire in his will. On her eighteenth birthday, she received control of her 50% ownership of Gianni Versace S.p.A.

She attended Sir James Henderson School in Milan and Brown University in Rhode Island.

Career

Versace is a member of the Board of Directors of Gianni Versace S.p.A. and has worked in New York as a dresser. In 2006, she became a UCLA student of French, art history, and theatre.

Personal life

She divides her time between her mother's home in Milan, her cousin Antonio's SoHo apartment in New York City and Los Angeles. In March 2007, her mother, Donatella, released a statement that her daughter was in treatment for anorexia. Referring to her bout with anorexia, Allegra told la Repubblica "I call this my period of absence. I was lost in other thoughts and couldn't confront reality, with my eyes shielded from everything. Above all, I wanted one thing - to be no one, to not be recognised, not be hunted down."