What Donatella Versace Might Look Like If She Aged Naturally According to AI

A timeline of her real photos and a shocking AI recreation explore what the major fashion icon might have looked like without cosmetic enhancements.

On December 15, 2024, plastic surgeon Dr. Gary Linkov released a video where he examined Donatella Versace's decades-long transformation. Though Versace has never confirmed any specific procedures, her evolving appearance has been the subject of speculation and public scrutiny for years.

Linkov's analysis began in the 1980s, when Versace was in her mid-20s to early 30s. In these early years, her face reflected natural symmetry and structure.

Her nose had a slight dorsal hump, her philtrum was short, her bottom lip was naturally fuller than her upper, and her jawline was defined and strong. However, the wrinkles between her eyebrows, known as glabellar lines, were already beginning to deepen.

By the late 1980s, Versace was still embracing her full, bold eyebrows — a look that was already going out of style by the time the ultra-thin brow trend took over in the 1990s.

As she entered her late 30s, the designer's upper eyelid hooding increased, and her brow wrinkles deepened. Her cupid's bow began to lose its definition, a natural effect of aging.

But by 1992, the first signs of artificial alteration seemed to appear. Linkov noted that her lips looked fuller, and her eyebrows had been thinned out dramatically.

In the years that followed, Versace continued to age naturally, but major changes became visible again in 1997. That year, according to Linkov, she likely underwent a brow lift and upper eyelid blepharoplasty, a procedure to remove sagging skin from the upper eyelids.

In the 2000s, as Versace aged into her late 40s and early 50s, the changes accelerated. Her lips looked noticeably fuller, suggesting the use of silicone or dermal fillers.

In the early 2000s, her aging process became more visible, with the formation of jowls along her lower jaw and more prominent neck muscles. Linkov suggested these could have been treated with facelift surgery, though no dramatic correction was immediately obvious.

In 2003, Linkov said her lips became so full that they lost their natural definition. In the years that followed, her appearance remained mostly consistent until 2008, when photos showed what the surgeon believed to be cheek implants, likely added to balance out her increasingly dominant lips.

By 2009, however, the cheek implants had become overly visible, appearing demarcated beneath her skin. In 2011, at age 56, her jawline had noticeably tightened, and her jowls were less prominent, pointing to a likely facelift that softened the aging around her lower face.

Over the following years, attention shifted again to her mouth, as her lips seemed to increase even more in volume. By 2018, when Versace was 63, Linkov said signs of rhinoplasty were evident. Her dorsal hump was gone, and her nose appeared more refined and smaller than previously.

In 2023, further enhancement seemed apparent. Her cheek implants may have been replaced with slightly larger ones, and she may have also undergone gonial angle implant surgery to give her jawline a more sculpted, square-like appearance.

Finally, in 2024, Linkov said the then 69-year-old designer may have had a brow lift revision, as her brows appeared more elevated than in earlier photos.

While people over time have speculated that Versace likely underwent far more than Linkov suggested, the surgeon reminded his audience to consider the role of lighting, angles, and public perception when analyzing changes to a person's appearance.

Still, the dramatic difference between early and current images sparked an avalanche of commentary.

"If she had allowed herself to age naturally, she probably would look much better than she does now. The difference in the last two pictures is stark. Obviously the real picture is on the right," one netizen commented.

Another added, "I have honestly no memory of ever seeing Donatella's face before her surgeries so I never knew what she used to look like. This is so fascinating."

One person wrote, "Not judging but she should have left her face as she was, she was pretty."

A commenter on X didn't hold back, "She was beautiful! I understand a little nip and tuck here and there! God knows I can use it, but all the money she paid to some surgeon to the stars ruined a beautiful face!"

Here's Donatella Versace's transformation over the years:

1989

1992

1994

1996

1998

2003

2005

2007

2010

2013

2016

2019

2023

2025

AI Images