Minimalist Prada buys maximalist Versace for $1.4 billion, in bid to relaunch sexier Milan rival

MILAN (AP) — The Prada Group closed the purchase of Milan fashion rival Versace in a $1.375 billion cash deal that puts the fashion house known for its sexy silhouettes under the same roof as Prada’s “ugly chic” aesthetic and Miu Miu ’s youth-driven appeal.

The highly anticipated deal is expected to relaunch Versace’s fortunes, after middling post-pandemic performance as part of the U.S. luxury group Capri Holdings.

Prada said in a one-line statement that the acquisition had been completed after receiving all regulatory clearances. Capri Holdings, which owns Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, said the money would be used to pay down debt.

Donatella Versace welcomed the deal in an Instagram post, which also marked the birthday of the brand's late founder, her brother, Gianni Versace.

“Today is your day and the day Versace joins the Prada family. I am thinking of the smile you would have had on your face,'' she wrote in a post that also featured a 1996 photo of Gianni Versace with Miuccia Prada.

Prada heir Lorenzo Bertelli is set to steer Versace’s next phase as executive chairman, in addition to his roles as group marketing director and sustainability chief.

The son of co-creative director Miuccia Prada and longtime Prada Group chairman Patrizio Bertelli has said he doesn’t expect to make any swift executive changes at Versace, although he also noted that the company, which is among the top 10 most recognized brands in the world, has long been underperforming in the market.

Prada has underlined that the 47-year-old Versace brand offered “significant untapped growth potential.’’

The appeal of the deal is that it combines "the minimalist Prada (with) a maximalist Versace,” said Luca Solca, managing director for the luxury sector at the Sanford C. Bernstein research firm, meaning that the brands don't compete for the same customers.

Versace is “long past its heyday,” Solca said. ”The challenge and the opportunity is to make it relevant again.. .. They are going to have to invent something which is going to make the brand attractive, desirable and interesting again.''

Versace already has begun a creative relaunch under a new designer, Dario Vitale, who previewed his first collection during Milan Fashion Week in September. He was previously head of design at Miu Miu, but his move to Versace was unrelated to the Prada deal, executives have said.

The runway show received mixed reviews, but the collection itself — a colorful, revealing riff on the 1980s — got good feedback from buyers. "I think that this seems to be a promising first step,” Solca said.

Capri Holdings paid $2 billion for Versace in 2018, but had been struggling to position the brands’ bold profile in the recent era of “quiet luxury.″

Capri Holdings chairman John D. Idol said in a statement that "Prada is the ideal partner to guide this celebrated luxury house into its next era of growth.''

Versace represented 20% of Capri Holdings’ 2024 revenue of 5.2 billion euros.

Prada said when the deal was announced in April that Versace would represent 13% of the Prada Group’s pro-forma revenues, with Miu Miu coming in at 22% and Prada at 64%. The Prada Group, which also includes Church’s footwear, reported a 17% boost in revenues to 5.4 billion euros last year.

The Prada Group has already begun preparations to incorporate crosstown rival Versace into its Italian manufacturing system, a point of pride for the group.

“Making a bag for one brand or another, the know-how is the same," Bertelli told reporters last week at the group’s Scandicci leather goods factory, which already makes bags for the Prada and Miu Miu brands and will soon add Versace.

Artisans stitched handles onto leather bags, and cut leather with laser machines inside the leather goods factory, where trainees were learning the trade as part of Prada's 25-year-old academy. It has trained some 570 new artisans in an in-house training program in the Tuscany, Marche, Veneto and Umbria regions.

Last year, Prada hired 70% of the 120 artisans who trained in the academy. The number of trainees rose by 28% to 152 this year.

The Prada Group has invested 60 million euros in its supply chain this year, including a new leather goods factory near Siena, a new knitwear factory near Perugia, as well as increasing production at its Church’s footwear factory in Britain and expanding another Tuscan factory. That’s on top of 200 million euros in investments from 2019-24.

A leather good operator works at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Customers look at a Prada shop window, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

A man walks with a Prada shopping bag in front of a Versace shop, at the Montenapoleone luxury fashion street, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Leather good operators work at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A leather good operator works at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A leather good operator works at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Leather good trainees work at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Leather good trainees work at the Prada factory in Scandicci, Italy, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE- Prada Group Chief Marketing Officer Lorenzo Bertelli attends the presentation of the Axiom and Prada-designed spacesuit that will be used by NASA from 2026, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni, File)

SEATTLE (AP) — It wasn't until Tuesday, or perhaps even as late as Wednesday's series finale against the Seattle Mariners that Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt realized just how good New York's rotation has been to start the year.

A day removed from Max Fried running his scoreless streak to 13 1/3 innings to begin the season, right-hander Cam Schlittler nearly matched the southpaw. Schlittler (2-0) yielded two hits in 6 1/3 innings and retired his last 16 batters, extending his season-opening shutout streak to 11 2/3 innings in New York's 5-3 win.

None of the Yankees' starters have given up more than one run during a 5-1 start, and the rotation has a 0.53 ERA across 33 2/3 innings.

“Hopefully we can keep that going," said Goldschmidt, who hit a three-run homer Wednesday. "They’ve been doing a great job. Really pounding the zone. Obviously our guys have good stuff. Haven’t walked too many guys, it seems like.”

Like Fried, Schlittler was simply sensational against Seattle, and he retired Mariners hitters in a variety of ways. The 25-year-old right-hander who also blanked the Giants over 5 1/3 innings last Friday relied nearly entirely on his three types of fastballs: a four-seamer, a cutter and a sinker.

“Early on, it was the four-seam. Middle of the game, it was the two-seam. And then later on, it was the cutter," Schlittler said. "So again, felt pretty strong with the game plan I had, and just attacking guys with those three pitches.”

New York manager Aaron Boone marveled at Schlittler's ability to tunnel those three pitches off one another, and in turn keep opposing hitters guessing.

Schlittler impressed last year during his rookie season, too, going 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts. But he also struggled with walks at times in 2025 and yielded nearly four free passes per nine innings.

Through two starts this year, Schlittler has not walked anyone. He struck out seven and needed just 79 pitches, 58 of them strikes, to get through 6 1/3 innings Wednesday.

“His calling card since he got in the organization was his ability to throw strikes with his fastball," Boone said. "And now, as he’s gone to another level from a stuff standpoint, that’s really served him well.”

Schlittler is hardly alone in having an excellent repertoire on a staff that figures to only improve in the coming weeks and months, at least on paper. Luis Gil, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year, is in line to join the rotation in mid-April.

Left-hander Carlos Rodón, who experienced right hamstring tightness on Tuesday while going through his throwing program, continues to make progress in his return from elbow surgery. Former Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole, who missed the 2025 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, remains sidelined, but could be back by late spring or early summer.

The group that's currently donning the pinstripes on the daily, though, isn't just getting the job done for a team with World Series aspirations.

“I think this staff’s dominant," Schlittler said. "The bullpen’s been great as well. So, I think the team as a whole, (we're) just feeding off each other and taking it into each game and each start and just keep rolling with it.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb

New York Yankees head coach Aaron Boone, left, arrives on the mound to take New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler out of the game against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler throws against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler throws against the Seattle Mariners during the third inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt celebrates a win over the Seattle Mariners with shortstop José Caballero, right, and right fielder Aaron Judge, left, after a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

New York Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler throws against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)