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"&amp;amp;#8220;Who wants another beige coat?&amp;amp;#8221; asks Donatella Versace with a deep laugh. The question is of course rhetorical, coming from the world&amp;amp;#8217;s most un-beige designer. Fashion, she declares, has a duty not to play it safe. It should be exhilarating, forceful and ambitious, like Donatella herself. This year she&amp;amp;#8217;s taken Versace, the company, to new success: Sales have exceeded projections; it&amp;amp;#8217;s received acclaim for both its youthful Versus line and the namesake collection (&amp;amp;#8220;bold,&amp;amp;#8221; said The New York Times, noting Versace&amp;amp;#8217;s &amp;amp;#8220;superiority&amp;amp;#8221; in creating elegant styles); and there are plans to expand beyond the 80 boutiques now open from Las Vegas to Shanghai. &amp;amp;#8220;A well-cut dress,&amp;amp;#8221; Donatella says, &amp;amp;#8220;can help you reach your goals. It&amp;amp;#8217;s a weapon.&amp;amp;#8221; She learned about the power of dressing as the muse of her brother Gianni, who founded the label in 1978 and ran it to huge success until his 1997 murder. Thrust into the driver&amp;amp;#8217;s seat, Donatella says the early years were brutal: &amp;amp;#8220;I had to hide my pain. I could never be alone and cry.&amp;amp;#8221; She also had to disguise her insecurities. &amp;amp;#8220;It was difficult to find my voice in fashion.&amp;amp;#8221; But critics responded to her softer take on design, and she was soon glamming up red carpets everywhere. &amp;amp;#8220;Entire careers have been launched on the strength of one Versace dress,&amp;amp;#8221; says stylist Annabel Tollman. &amp;amp;#8220;They make a woman feel like she rules the world.&amp;amp;#8221; In recent years, while Versace was restructuring, Donatella remade herself, too, seeking help for substance abuse and giving major support to a children&amp;amp;#8217;s charity in China. Today, with a new CEO installed, Donatella the designer has been unleashed. &amp;amp;#8220;I am feeling so free to express myself creatively,&amp;amp;#8221; she says. &amp;amp;#8220;I&amp;amp;#8217;ve found my strength. Now I look into the future.&amp;amp;#8221; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/inspired/women-of-the-year/2010/donatella-versace>