Donatella Versace Says Madonna's Ads (and Abs) Were Not Retouched

Madonna fronts the new spring/summer 2015 Versace campaign—her third set of RTW ads for the fashion brand (she previously posed back in 1995, and in 2005, if you notice a pattern happening). And while she's not the oldest face to land a major campaign this season, her age is proving to be a talking point, because she looks good at 56 years old. 

Suspiciously good, some would argue, given the long-standing tradition of copious retouching and other Photoshop trickery in fashion imagery. But that's not so, says Versace designer Donatella Versace. In an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera (translated by Glamour), Donatella said that Madonna "did not have her abdomen or arms retouched." She then muddies the waters a little by saying, "I believe that there were only the set and the filters and the rest," because the phrase "the rest" could mean a lot of things in the fashion photography business (i.e. very generous lighting). 

But still, Madonna was apparently much less hassle than, say, Lady Gaga, who fronted Versace ads last year. For Gaga and her team, "the final approval of the photo was a melee." As it happens though, Gaga's newest fashion campaign (for Japanese beauty brand Shiseido) is going to be all selfies, and there's only so many filters you can throw onto an Instagram snap.