In an event live-streamed via rising social media tool, Periscope, Donatella Versace visited The Met on Thursday night to be interviewed in a special series titled 'The Atelier With Alina Cho'. Wearing a sassy bright red trouser suit, Versace was calm, funny and honest during the interview, noting to the audience that they might have a hard time with her thick Italian accent: "Can you understand me?," She asked, adding: "Usually people can't understand me."
Versace covered a variety of topics including her recent appearance in the Givenchy campaign with its creative director Riccardo Tisci (pictured above), as well as J.Lo – who she will attend the Met Ball with on Monday night. The platinum haired 59-year-old also touched on her plans to take her fashion empire public, and her daily beauty regime (which she hopes to turn into a business soon). Discover some of the key quotes below...
On the Givenchy campaign, which saw the rare appearance of two designers in the same visual: "In fashion, you have to break rules."
On Jennifer Lopez's custom Versace gown that she will wear to the Met Gala on Monday night, Versace said that it will reflect Wintour's China theme "through Versace's eyes" and will make her look: "great from the front and even better from the back." 
On the five goals that she and Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone's CEO (who acquired Versace SpA last year complete with a $200 million cash injection), Versace noted that they are working towards making her family's fashion empire public and that the initial public offering was "very exciting but very difficult...I have to concentrate on making everything clear to penetrate the market."
The designer also revealed that there are more luxury Versace resorts in the works, that she would love to launch a Versace beauty line in the near future and gave this advice for aspiring fashion designers: "You have to be ready to suffer."