The donatella VERSACE purple heart meme began after the fashion designer by the same name left this as a comment on an Instagram post. The baffling nature of the comment resulted in other people using it as a spam phrase until it morphed into a meme that escaped to Twitter, Reddit, and eventually to TikTok in a 2024 resurgence.
@holdensmith962 donatella VERSACE???? #bellahadid #gigihadid #bellahadidedit #donatellaversace #versace #internet #popculture #foryou ♬ Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
No one really knows what Versace meant when she left the comment on Bella Hadid's 2022 post, and perhaps the mystique is part of why the meme has endured over the years.
Donatella Versace is an Italian fashion designer, model, and socialite and sister of Gianni Versace, who founded the company to which he gave their family name. The two of them worked closely together in order to blend the industry with celebrity influences and pop culture.
Many fashion experts credit Donatella with inventing the concept of the supermodel in the 1990s. She took over much of the company while Gianni was battling cancer and inherited much of it when he died in 1997, becoming its chief creative officer. In addition to fashion, she has designed resorts, hotels, and a Mini Cooper.
As the fashion magnate used it, no one really knows. However, the meme refers to the time when she commented "donatella VERSACE" followed by the purple heart emoji on an Instagram post by fashion model Bella Hadid on February 14, 2022.
The post itself touched on a controversial and highly emotional subject, which made the simple comment with the odd capitalization all the more mysterious. On that Valentine's Day, Hadid, who is Palestinian on her father's side, posted an image of a candy heart containing the message "Will you free my Palestine?"
It's unclear if Donatella was attempting to sign her name in support of the post or Palestine in general or what was going on, but other Instagram users quickly noticed the unusual comment and found it highly amusing. For all we know, she knew exactly what she was doing as an expert on popular trends and just wanted her name out there.
The Donatella Versace purple heart remark first became a spam comment meme. Hadid's pro-Palestine post and others soon filled up with copycat comments before it spread to other users' accounts.
After that, it spread to Reddit and Twitter, where people would post photos of Versace models with the Donatella Versace purple heart emoji comment. During the Barbie poster trend in April 2023, Twitter user @mazzypopstar created one of those with the fashion designer's image and the caption, "This Barbie is Donatella VERSACE ????."
Eventually, you could see the meme comment alongside anything that used a name or word in all capital letters with any heart emoji.
In 2024, for reasons unknown, the Donatella Versace ???? meme saw a resurgence in the form of users posting videos with captions or descriptions that utilize one word in all lowercase letters followed by another in all caps, and then the emoji.
@floptokhub3 Donatella VERSACE ???? #fyp #flop #floptok #cupcakke #jiafei #donatellaversace #ellieandmasonhouse #viral #funny #relatable ♬ som original - Mateus
This became such a popular trend that explainer videos about the meme began appearing, which only spread the meme further.
@sugurugetospetmonkey good MORNING ???? #donatellaVERSACE???? #hi ♬ Max pro keep copying my character in his videos - Leader Omega Nugget
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The post The ‘donatella VERSACE ????’ purple heart meme returns appeared first on The Daily Dot.
