Fashion designer Donatella Versace says her 20-year-old daughter Allegra Versace is anorexic and has been fighting this dangerous eating disorder for years.

In the midst of the too-thin-model debate, Donatella Versace has revealed that the problem of eating disorders has hit closer to home than the runway.

“Our daughter Allegra has been battling anorexia for many years,” she said in a March 27 statement.

“She is receiving the best medical care possible and is responding well.” Allegra, a 20-year-old college student, is being treated at home in L.A., says a Versace spokesperson. To those in fashion circles, news of her illness wasn’t a surprise.

After her uncle, designer Gianni, was murdered in 1997, Allegra, then 11, “started to lose a lot of weight,” says a family friend. “She was like a daughter to him.” In his will Gianni left his niece 50 percent of the multimillion-dollar fashion empire.

“She grew up with discussions of fashion,” Donatella recently told Harper’s Bazaar. “I cannot blame Allegra for caring about clothes.” For now the focus is on caring for her health. Says another source: “She’s doing everything she can to recover.” [via]