Attitude Awards 2026: Donatella Versace wins this year’s Icon Award, presented by Ncuti Gatwa and Natasha Poly
Versace was honoured at the 15th anniversary of the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards 2026, in partnership with M&S and electrified by Polestar
By Callum Wells
Fashion legend Donatella Versace is the recipient of the Icon Award at the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards 2026, in partnership with M&S and electrified by Polestar.
The designer was honoured at the 15th anniversary of the Attitude Awards, hosted at London’s Roundhouse on 7 October.
Former Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa and supermodel Natasha Poly took to the stage to present Versace with her gong, whose relationship with the LGBTQ+ community has been woven through her career.
“I am proud to be an ally to you all” – Donatella Versace on winning the Icon Award
She said, “Attitude really is my favourite word! Bad, good, fierce, rebellious, blonde. Life would be so boring without Attitude.
“I don’t get up in the morning without it… ask my team! To win the Icon Award here tonight means everything to me. Thank you.
“As a community you have supported me in every step of my life. Through every low, and I have had some bad ones, and through every high, and I was very very good at the highs.
“Because we all know that life is sometimes incredibly hard but we have to celebrate the light, the joy and the heart in all of us.
“I am proud to be an ally to you all. We can never let physical violence shown towards anyone in the community go unpunished. We can never let right wing extremists define identity.
“We can never be defeated by bigots. We can never let their words impact our confidence, our self-belief and our fabulousness.
“It makes me very emotional to be here tonight with you all. Every one of you is iconic. So I share this award with all of you. I love you. Thank you.”
A stellar track record of allyship
A longtime supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, Versace was named a Stonewall ambassador in 2019 and has spent decades supporting HIV/AIDS charities. In 2023, she became co-chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s $125 million (£95m) Rocket Fund, and pledged a $300,000 (£227,000) matching donation during Pride Month. She said at the time that she had “personally lost four of my best friends and so many friends and colleagues from the industry” during the AIDS crisis, in a statement published by the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
That same year, Versace used an awards speech at Milan’s La Scala to speak out against restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights in Italy. “We must all fight for freedom, in a time that still sees trans people suffering terrible violence,” she said in September 2023, as reported by the Guardian.
She continues to serve as a co-chair of the Rocket Fund, which supports HIV prevention, testing, treatment and efforts to combat stigma affecting LGBTQ+ communities.
Versace is among a very star-studded list of winners, alongside the likes of David Furnish, Michael Johnston, Suzi Ruffell and Jordan Stephens.
The Attitude Awards 2026 issue is available on digital platforms from 11pm on 7 October and in print from 8 October. Print copy available for pre-order here.