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"Though Versace is omnipresent in the world of fashion, you may be surprised to learn it has less than a dozen boutiques in the U.S. And while Donatella Versace has conquered the uptown customer on Fifth Avenue in New York City, she decided to try her hand at the downtown market with a new SoHo outpost.\n\n Situated on the suddenly very chic block of Mercer Street between Houston and Prince (Balenciaga and Saint Laurent are also in the midst of opening up stores there), the lu shop is just what you would expect from the glamorous Italian brand. Architect Jamie Fobert outfitted the opulent space with a marble mosaic floor and serpentine clothing racks that allow the goods to take center stage.\n\n Yesterday Donatella and Fobert were joined by Versus collaborator Christopher Kane to give us a tour of the new digs. \"Whenever I come to New York, I come to SoHo,\" Donatella explained. \"I discover something different every time. For the downtown store, we freshened up a bit. Eventually we'll also do this concept in the uptown store.\"\n\n The boutique currently features a line of giftables \u2014 including the most fashionable Chutes and Ladders set known to man \u2014 curated by Kane. \"We fight!\" Donatella joked of her working relationship with the Scottish designer. \"I think he's afraid of my heels.\" The bond between the two is certainly strong, and Kane calls their collaborative efforts an easy process thanks to Donatella's prolific experience.\n\n As for what influences her, \"real creativity inspires me. New York is full of creative people, not only in fashion.\" Of course, the music world fave has a few thoughts about one particularly creative New Yorker. \"Lady Gaga's fabulous, She's fearless, she dares, she has no limit, and she works continuously. She never stops. It was so easy for me to talk to her. She gets everything.\" In case you were wondering, Grimes and Beth Ditto are also among the designer's most-listened to.\n\n And speaking of music, Donatella has a secret ambition you might not know about it. \"I want to sing, I want to have a band,\" she said with a laugh. \"You know, with all this mania of rock stars doing fashion, I think I want to sing. I want to rap!\"\n\n Click through to see some of the Versace items Christopher Kane curated for the SoHo boutique."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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