Donatella Versace and CEO on brand’s new Hong Kong store, why ‘sexy’ is boring, and escaping Gianni’s shadow

Donatella Versace may be petite but she knows how to dominate a room. The Italian designer and vice-president of the Versace brand is in Hong Kong with her new British CEO Jonathan Akeroyd, putting on the city’s first Versace show and officiating at the opening of an eye-catching new flagship boutique at 12 Queen’s Road Central.

“I’m so proud of this flagship – it’s the biggest one in Asia,” says the designer, who, fresh from a trip to Miami to film a Versace ad campaign with Bruce Weber, is warm, quick, and outspoken.

The luxury brand has been in the region way longer than most; Versace recalls how its founder, her brother Gianni, opened a store in Beijing “in 1986 when nobody was going to China ... He did it because he had a vision about China”.

Today, the Hong Kong store is a serious investment in prime retail real estate at a difficult time for luxury brands. But, as Akeroyd says: “One of the best times to invest is during a recession – it shows that you are strong, confident … and more importantly we really want to engage with the local customer.”

I’m sitting between the duo in a private lounge at the Grand Hyatt. Versace adds, in rapid-fire, accented English: “Fashion has changed a lot, too, in the past five years … Chinese women are dressed much more elegantly now.”