“I woke up in the middle of the night and had a vision of Donatella and me at the altar getting married,” says comedian Jordan Firstman. “I emailed Versace the next morning and I said, ‘What if Donatella and I were a couple?’ I thought they would scoff, but they loved it.”
Securing Donatella Versace to play his enigmatic co-star in the house’s 2020 holiday film is no mean feat — some might even go so far as to say a Christmas miracle, of sorts — but it’s all in a day’s work for Firstman. (Watch below to see how his romantic vision plays out.)
The LA-based writer and comedian is one of 2020’s breakout stars, his Impressions Instagram series earned him the title of the funniest man on the internet this summer and has accrued him a global fanbase that includes Hailey Bieber, Sophie Turner and Chrissy Teigen. But there was only one woman who could make Firstman’s Christmas dreams come true, so he quickly set about bringing to life his “unrelenting vision” for All For You: A Very Versace Christmas Story, a Vogue x Versace film starring two long-distance “lovers” forced to spend the holidays apart, played by Firstman and the formidable Versace commander-in-chief.
Referencing Robert Altman’s 1992 classic The Player (a black comedy about the fickle Hollywood movie industry), a very specific opening phone scene from the Diane Keaton-directed Hanging Up (a 2000 drama-comedy starring Keaton, Meg Ryan and Lisa Kudrow as sisters), and even some Quentin Tarantino, Firstman and director Cody Critcheloe have created a festive love letter to all things Versace.
“The film evokes a real Hollywood Christmas” explains Firstman. “I wanted to lean into a 1990s screenwriter Versace fantasy.” And lean in he does. Picture a Versace-clad hero in a white convertible, declaring his love for his “baby” while collecting a haul of holiday gifts in Virtus, Medusa and Greca prints; a devilishly distracting store assistant played by model Devon Lee Carlson; and of course Firstman’s own irresistible curls.
In true house style, All For You: A Very Versace Christmas Story is a visual feast for the eyes, sure to provide inspiration for even the most tricky Christmas gifts. Indeed, Versace is the label Firstman first fell in love with. “I m absolutely obsessed with the photo of Donatella and Gianni decked out in the S&M leather. So major and ahead of its time! Also, that purple suit Elton John wore. I need that suit.”
And what do you get a woman like Donatella Versace for Christmas? “Just love,” says Firstman. “With diamonds on it. Diamond encrusted love.”
Watch the Vogue x Versace holiday film, All For You: A Very Versace Christmas Story, to see Jordan Firstman and Donatella Versace in action here:
Discover the Versace holiday collection at Versace.com.