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“Fashion is a weapon that you can use when you need it.” Born and raised as the youngest of four children in the Italian community of Reggio di Calabria, Donatella Versace followed her brother Gianni to Florence in the 1970s where Gianni envisioned a future in fashion design after finding inspiration in his own mother’s work as a seamstress. While Donatella ultimately planned on working as a public relations manager for her brother, Gianni couldn't deny his sister’s keen eye for fashion and her incredible business sense as he promoted her to Vice President of the Versace Group in 1978. By the 1980s, he rewarded Donatella’s savviness in launching the Versace brand with her own perfume, Blonde, and with her own label, Versus.

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With Gianni’s tragic death in 1997, Donatella was more than capable of taking over the company’s reins to carry on her brother’s legacy and, after nearly two decades as Vice President, stepped up as CEO where she instantly took the label to the next level across Europe and the United States. Building her reputation with high-profile parties and her entourage of celebrity friends like Sir Elton John, Kate Moss and Prince Charles, to name a few, the two-time Designer of the Year later stepped down as CEO in 2004 but had no intentions of retiring as she assumed the coveted role of Chief Designer while bringing in a salary of over $500 million each year to add to her already astounding $2.3 billion net worth.

As you can imagine, Donatella knows the value of beauty and, as a renowned face of fashion, chooses to spend a large portion of her wealth on plastic surgery (whether she admits it or not). However, many argue that the 61-year-old’s idea of beauty has gone too far since her incredible transformation over the last two decades has left her completely unrecognizable and seemingly “made of plastic.” So just how much surgery has Donatella had over the years?

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When Donatella launched her fashion career in the 1970s, it was obvious the blonde bombshell was naturally beautiful but, after balancing marriage and motherhood with the demands of the fashion industry, the stress was obviously taking its toll by the early 1990s with the young designer showing wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. By the time her brother passed in 1997, the then 42-year-old had even more on her plate as a female CEO and turned to cosmetic surgery to polish her looks with fillers and Botox injections.

Refusing to stop with only minor procedures, the media noticed an obvious change in Donatella’s appearance only two years after her divorce from model Paul Beck in 2002 when she walked the catwalk with obviously fuller lips, fewer wrinkles and plumper cheeks. By then, she was already accustomed to denying all plastic surgery rumors and, in 2005, managed to drop an even bigger bombshell when she told Vogue that she recently finished rehab after battling an 18-year cocaine addiction. In the meantime, her face had changed once again as she briefly admitted to getting only Botox injections saying, “I do not believe in totally natural for women.”

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Despite never confirming her extensive time under the knife, many experts argue that Donatella’s incredible transformation is rooted in an addiction to plastic surgery. Physicians also argue that the 61-year-old has had a rhinoplasty in addition to multiple face and neck lifts that have drastically lowered her eyebrows. She’s also rumored to have opted for a jaw implant to change the shape of her face as well as ongoing Botox injections that have given her an iconic “Trout Pout” and a glassy forehead.

Admitting “I’m not like this genetically,” Donatella has yet to set the record straight by confirming that she’s spent a fortune on cosmetic surgery. Instead, she says that her ever-changing look is the result of using “tons of cream” and caring for her hair and skin, none of which anyone is buying. In fact, her face isn’t the only thing that has changed as many critics argue she’s opted for breast implants and multiple liposuctions to keep her hourglass figure. Of course, the renowned designer says she’s stayed slim over the years by working with her personal trainer, who she fired after he refused to let her smoke cigarettes.

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Regardless of her “wax-like” appearance, Donatella’s career and fame in the fashion industry have certainly escaped the negative media attention around her looks with a $2.3 billion fortune to prove it. Today, the icon of fashion isn’t the least bit concerned about what people are saying about her, which is part of the reason she’s enjoyed widespread success over the last four decades. So, when people ask her the million-dollar question of how she defies aging, Donatella always has the same answer: “How do I keep young? Haven’t you heard? I sleep every night in the deep freezer!”