The Versace collection featured much more than positive thoughts as Love, Courage and Equality. The show opened with black tailoring that beautifully projected the refined woman power at the core of Donatella’s message — short, round-shouldered coatdress over sheer underpinning marked with “Equality”; cropped jacket over slim, low-slung skirt that exposed a slice of skin at the midriff. She went on to further develop elements of street and sport that have lately infiltrated her vocabulary, often in contrast to flou. It made for some great-looking clothes, especially sheepskin outerwear with edge and sexy draped dresses in a graphic open-weave tweed. Versace also showed impressive sportswear, including a snappy camel coat over graphic red-and-black sweater, checked skirt and chambray shirt, its tails hanging out, flashing “Strength.”
The ideas came rapidly: decorated denim and mink; sheer appliquéd dresses and Ts; girly dresses with flounces and cutouts, and others, athletic-inspired with overlocked seams.
Gone were the beefcake models, the shiny Medusa logos — not to mention most of the flashiness that have become synonymous with Versace men’s wear. In their place came subtler elements: blanket coats, trenches and shearlings, and lean, sensible suits.
Donatella Versace’s mission this season was to dress a variety of men — not just showmen. Versace replaced her tall, buff boys with an international cast of models who were smaller and, well, more “normal” looking.
As they hightailed it down the multiple, intersecting runways they looked a lot like commuters — rich ones, at least — decked out in a variety of urban uniforms, staring straight ahead and striding with a determined step.
Some wore businessman clothes such as camel coats, trenches and lightweight topcoats, some of which were slit up the sides. Suits were fitted while trousers flared slightly, and had little slashes at the bottom à la unzipped track suits. Other models worked a street-y look, dressed in puffers — with a lumberjack check — or a patterned bomber mismatched with plaid trousers, and a baseball cap.
Among the highlights was a soft black-and-red blanket coat with a triangle pattern, inspired by traditional Jewish textiles, a dark suit with an original, off-kilter tartan drawn by hand, and hoodies and tops adorned with collaged photographs of neo-classical statues.
Who would have ever thought Teva sandals would appear on a Versace runway? A sign that, for SS2017 Donatella Versace was ready to change things up a bit. Adding ‘sportive’ to her usual ‘strong’ and ‘sexy’ collection. She introduced color blocked parkas and leather jackets to add to her selection of bodycon leggings, mini skirts and tight dresses. Next summer the Versace woman is going places other than cocktail parties and night clubs. But even in a midnight blue raincoat she’ll make heads turn, just like closing model Gigi did tonight.
It was a show filled with Dutchies at Atelier Versace. Familiar faces like supermodels Lara Stone, Doutzen Kroes and newcomer Maartje Verhoef. But fresh faces too, like Marjan Jonkman, Susanne Knipper, Julia van Os, Lauren de Graaf en Milan van Eeten. Garlands in their hair patent platform shoes on their feet. Contrast to keep things interesting. Dresses were dreamy as well as powerful, another contradiction. Corset tops, harnesses, sheer chiffon, lace and cutouts left nothing to the imagination. Looks that had sex written all over them, even though Donatella portrayed her softest Versace side. From a distance the pastel colored dresses might have appeared princess-y, up and close the vibe was more party. Frayed edges, asymmetric off shoulder dresses and lots of body parts on display. Shiny sequins and velvet appliqués added to the rich feeling of the collection. Yet while so many designs appeared unfinished we couldn’t help but think Donatella may have been in a rush. Couture as if created in a hurry. That didn’t stop Doutzen from wearing her floor sweeping gown to the Amfar dinner that same evening. Fresh off the runway, how convenient!
Donatella Versace sent out a desert-inspired collection with laid-back silhouettes, lots of layers and bursts of warm color.
The designer layered long and fluttery printed shirts under plum, sand and olive suits — and even sent some out solo and belted like whisper thin robes. Pinstripes were made to look faded — as if bleached by the sun — as were muted tie-dye prints on suits and scarves, while tuxedo trousers with a drop crotch had a breezy Eastern feel.
Models in flowing, knotted silk headscarves — and wearing sandals and socks — made their way down the sandy catwalk dressed in languid, pajama-like suits and hooded bomber jackets printed with hand-drawn rosettes or patterns inspired by the Versace Home collection, such as cushions and chairs.
Bomber jackets came in plum leather or caramel with a subtle argyle pattern picked across them, while washed silk coats had oversized patch pockets, presumably for storing a compass, map and camel snacks. Knits — which rarely take a starring role on the Versace runway — were a treat, with one dip-dyed number glowing with colors as bright as a desert rose — purple, pink and blue. Other elongated knits came with slashes at the elbow or the shoulders, teasing with small windows onto the body, the only hint of flesh in the entire show.
No decoration, no color, no print. Just the soul of Versace: silhouette and cut. That was the message of Donatella Versace for her FW 2015 menswear collection. She envisaged the collection as a kind of ground zero, leveling the playing field for the future. It was certainly a step away from excess and ambiguity and gladiatorial camp as we have seen many times.
The color palette was a banquet of soothing neutrals. For all the designer’s insistence on cut, it was softness that dominated. A hooded mink coat and a Mongolian lamb backpack were its most extreme manifestations. Otherwise, jacquard-ed blousons and parkas had the comfy look and feel of blankets. The body-conscious cashmere knitwear in long cabled cardigans and even longer rib-knit tops, layered over leggings was lean and athletic. It took on an impressive masculine heft with oversized outerwear.
On a mirrored runway Donatella Versace presented her collection for next summer. And a mirrored (dance) floor probably is the best spot to work her latest range of disco appropriate dresses. Sexy silhouettes, bold colors, shiny, glittery straps, shoes ands bags to match the outfits and the company’s logo all over it. No evening gowns here, just a raunchy range of sheer, mesh and cut-out party creations. The fashion feeling of the Italian label was in the large stitching, the geometric prints and cutouts (of the Versace logo and some rings) the wet hair look and the minimal use of make-up. Now let’s dance!
That was quite a cool rock chick collection Donatella Versace sent out last night, pretty, charming and with lots of attitude. The show opened with denim. Jeans, some in floral-embossed leather, were typically skinny, other pieces were not: a roomy jeans jacket and voluminous raffia skirt for example. This was a recurring shape, in black as viagra online well as bold-stroke pastel prints. Other outfits that stood out: barely-there gowns in chiffon and cutout, pasted-on lace, and a chainmail update in shimmery blue and lilac. Throughout, the accessory of choice: harness chain jewelry for a luxe touch of heavy metal.
Donatella Versace presented a playful collection full of shine and neon shades — models even wore thick strips of colored sports tape here and there on their bodies . There were leather jackets glistened with gold studs and zips, big rippling Medusa head on the back of shirts, and sheer black lace dress shirts. Then there were clean-cut tailored suits with a roomy silhouette, shiny buttons and strong shoulders, jackets paired with shorts and trousers that gather, tracksuit style, around the ankle. And for all those party-animals there were neon paint-splattered jeans, sweatshirts, and boiler suits that reveal a man at play. Wow.
Tonight’s Versace show was all about punk, or ‘vunk’ as Donatella calls it. And though the Italian fashion house already has lots of punk history (Liz Hurley’s safety pin dress from ‘94 was only just recently brought back to life by Lady Gaga), Donatella didn’t feel like looking back for fall. She presented a new kind of vunk that consisted of so many wrongs it was almost right. Models sported body suits, patent leather, cut-outs, high slits, spiked boots, oversize bright colored fur coats, animal prints, sheer fabrics and bright shiny embellishments (incl. larger than life spikes) all brought together in one collection. For a major fashion house like Versace this is probably about as sexy and daring as it gets. Donatella put it all out there tonight as one over the top statement and why wouldn’t she.
Our own fashiondictionary Real Highlander There are only a few. Famous ones are Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld, Giorgio Armani and Vivienne Westwood. They're around for at least 75 years and have designed over 750 different collections. The rumour goes they survive by sucking blood of male virgins to revitalize in between seasons.