IN two years, since inheriting half her uncle's $870 million fashion empire, Allegra Beck Versace has sunk into the abyss of an eating disorder that threatens her life.
Recently, her pathetically skinny look has deteriorated to shockingly emaciated; at 168cm tall she weighs 31kg, her bones noticeably protrude and her face is gaunt. Versace, 20, was reported to have been admitted to hospital in Los Angeles, though her parents deny she is in institutional care.
Parents Italian designer Donatella Versace and American former model Paul Beck, said in a statement that Allegra was receiving the best medical care possible .
They said: Allegra has been battling anorexia, a very serious disease, for many years.
She is responding well to help to overcome the illness.
As parents, we are doing our best to protect our daughter. But we want to let everyone know that we appreciate their concern for Allegra.
Reports from Italy this week said Allegra had sought treatment at various specialist clinics.
And she is thought to have consulted expert doctors at St Georges Hospital in Tooting, south London.
Allegra was just 11 when she was thrust into the world spotlight after her doting uncle, Gianni Versace, was shot dead outside his Miami mansion in 1997 -- it was revealed the fashion maestro left her half of his business empire, making her one of the world's richest children.
She inherited the fortune on her 18th birthday and soon after moved to New York to study fashion design.
But late last year she shifted to Los Angeles to study acting, French and art history at a Californian university, UCLA.
The media-shy student shuns the limelight, living a relatively quiet life and rarely giving interviews. She hardly ever attends celebrity-studded soirees.
Allegra recently gave her first in-depth interview in the March edition of US Harper's Bazaar, in which she appeared in a six-page glamour photo spread with her mother.
A confessed introvert, Allegra told the magazine she and her teenage brother were very different from their confident, queen-of-the-spotlight mother.
'SOMETIMES my mother looks at Daniel and me and says, 'How could I have two children so different from me?
', Allegra reportedly said.
My mum dressed me in silk to go to elementary school, she said. In kindergarten, they sent me home because I couldn't do finger-painting in my dress.
Allegra said she gave her mother design inspiration by going to the movies.
I scout them for her, she said. She hates to sit still for two hours without smoking.
Donatella, 51, has had to deal with her own demons -- the peroxide blonde was addicted to cocaine.
Meanwhile she and her former husband are reportedly planning to sue several newspapers over their daughter's battle with anorexia. Two newspapers, London's Evening Standard and Italy's Corriere della Sera, quoted Donatella as saying, Anorexia is consuming her and we are very worried .
. . the doctors are doing all they can to snatch her away from this cruel disease and we have faith in them.
The couple say Donatella made no such comment and that Allegra was being treated at home.
Allegra is not at present staying in any hospital -- she is living in her private residence and her condition does not cause particular concerns, the statement said.
Which private residence that may be is not clear: Allegra owns several properties throughout the world as part of her inheritance.
As well as inheriting most of the fashion house when she turned 18, she also took possession of properties in Milan and on Lake Como.
Allegra is also understood to own a luxury apartment in Manhattan and an estate in Los Angeles. She has a half share in the Italian luxury goods empire -- which boasts a worldwide chain of opulent hotels such as the Palazzo Versace on the Gold Coast.
The rest of the company is split between Donatella, who went from Gianni's muse to the label's creative director after his murder, and their brother, Santos, who manages the empire's business interests.
Gianni was gunned down outside his Miami Beach mansion, Casa Casuarina, by suspected serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who committed suicide before he was arrested.
As Gianni's Milan-based label rose to international prominence in the late 1980s, he championed the supermodel culture by employing calendar glamazons -- including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista and Kristy Turlington.
Versace's designs at the time -- and the models he chose to display them -- epitomised a more curvaceous, healthy femininity. His body-hugging safety-pin outfit worn by Elizabeth Hurley caused a storm.
BUT Versace joined other leading fashion houses to embrace the trend to skinnier models in the early '90s, heralding the dawn of the haunted look, known as heroin chic.
Donatella said she decided to speak out about her daughter's disorder in an attempt to end further internet speculation.
I thought the best thing was to explain what was happening because otherwise the internet would be full of gossip and chatter, she said. We are talking about a 20-year-old girl in the grip of a diabolical illness.
Many mothers will know well what I am going through and what my daughter is risking.
The news of Allegra's illness follows recent campaigning in several countries for a ban on super-thin models -- with calls for models with dangerously low body mass indexes to be banned from the catwalk.
Fashion weeks in Milan and Madrid enacted bans -- prompted in part by media attention given to the death of Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos, who suffered heart failure during Fashion Week in Montevideo.
It was reported she had lived on Diet Coke and lettuce leaves for three months.
Her death was followed by that of Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston, 21, in Sao Paulo last November from an infection brought on by her anorexia.
Ms Reston's mother made an emotional plea for agencies to care better for aspiring young models.
Donatella has previously spoken of her fears for the health of her daughter's generation and that girls as young as 10 were worrying about their body shape.
But she has refused to blame the industry for the prevalence of teenage anorexia and bulimia.
Taking care of your body and look is one thing -- sliding into obsession is another, she has said.
At 10, they (girls) know all about diets, put purple varnish on their nails and reduce weight almost for fun.
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