With Versace making its anticipated return to Milan this year, they showcased a multitude of striking looks intended to instill a sense of familiarity from the 60s.
Inspired by her brother, Gianni, and his Fall 1995 collection, Donatella Versace sought to embody some of his fierce yet fresh looks within her own collection. The show takes place on a curved chessboard-like runway, with models metaphorically acting as chess pieces, ultimately setting the vibrant and lively tone for the collection.
Donatella implements an iconic checker-print patterns, A-line dresses and contemporary business-like satin blazers — straying away from the grunge and gothic theme she had last season.
The collection also maintains consistency, with the incorporation of pastel colors of pink, blue, yellow and green, simultaneously along with silver metallic hues and accents within each look. Donatella played with a lot of fabrics in this collection, exhibiting mostly thick satin and silk pieces.
The collection also features bows in models’ hair styles, as well as structured and bold necklines, revealing the 60s-themed inspiration that Donatella pursued for this show. Through the implementation of these patterns, the collection emphasizes the timelessness of Versace’s past looks, and how they will continue to feel vibrant and contemporary for years to come.
Within the collection, I noticed the constant display of crocodile embossed bags in pastel and metallic shades, smooth leather purses in vibrant colors and checker-print monogram bags. Donatella features crocodile-embossed bags that are similar to her Croc-Effect Greca Goddess bags, with some accented with the iconic House Greca and Barocco signatures, while others have a gold clasp with the House Medusa one.
Lately, Donatella has been releasing more smooth leather bags, which is the direction she’s been headed toward within her latest few seasonal shows.
Despite maintaining 60s-themed looks throughout the show, I thought there was a theme of “girliness” incorporated within the exhibition through mini skirts, bows and ballet flats. To pay homage to the concept, Kendall Jenner opened the show with a satin white dress accented with gems across the neckline, as well as metallic ballet flats.
Many other renowned haute couture models walked this show, including Gigi Hadid, Anok Yai, Adut Akech, Mona Tougaard and Vittoria Ceretti, all models who are consistently featured in Versace shows.
Donatella also pays tribute to the 90s and her brother Gianni by featuring supermodel Claudia Schiffer as the closer for the show. Schiffer was Gianni’s original muse back in the 90s. She adorned a silver and green lamé checker-print dress, with accents of green floral-print lace and metallic heels.
Collectively, the show successfully-executed, sharp and fierce looks that highlight the 90s, while simultaneously modernizing the looks inspired by Gianni’s 1995 collection. Its impact conveys that pieces from 90s Versace will continue to serve as statement couture looks for years to come.
