Deborah Ball

>> Yesterday, Deborah Ball, Milan correspondent for the Wall Street Journal since 1997, published House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival, after conducting 220 interviews with the likes of Donatella Versace, her brother Santo Versace, Gianni Versace's partner Antonio D'Amico, Anna Wintour, Joe McKenna, Brana Wolf, and Francois Nars.  In fact, the only person to decline Ball an interview was Allegra Beck Versace, who has never had a predilection for talking to press. House of Versace is the first book to chronicle the ups and downs of the Versace family in English, and it's also the first book written for which the Versaces granted help.

Ball touches on Donatella's long battle with drug addiction, the Versaces' heavy spending habits, Allegra's anorexia, why Gianni left his 50 percent stake in the company to Allegra, and more.

Among the tidbits we learned while perusing the book's contents »

>> Versace the Subject of Upcoming "Untold Story" Book by Wall Street Journal Reporter —In 2006, Alicia Drake's The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris took the fashion world by storm; in 2007, it was Dana Thomas's Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. Since, there's been a dearth of solid industry reading, but 2010 may end the drought. The Wall Street Journal's Deborah Ball has House of Versace: The Untold Story of Genius, Murder, and Survival coming out Feb. 2, marking the first book in English written about the Versace clan. It includes interviews with Gianni Versace's friends, lovers, Naomi Campbell, and Anna Wintour. [Chic Report]