Versace: fabulously funky fluorescent fashion

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Sep 22, 2018

Now that’s what we call a great Versace fashion show. As she has for several seasons, Donatella staged her show inside Milan’s fairgrounds, the Fiera, a giant exhibition hall done up with a huge carpet in the colours of the collection. Where she sent out the city’s most expensively assembled cast.

Driving music, glittering lights, endless legs, an uber casting and a great dashing potpourri of bold clothes.
 
Figure-hugging fantasy throughout, with sculpted jackets, power suits and fantastic patchwork cocktails.

Gigi Hadid in a fluorescent mock python skirt slit at the side, slinky black top and shiny mustard jerkin, her arm wrapped around a padded leather holdall bag. Imaan Hammam strutting by in a hyper-pastel paisley pants suit. And veteran model Shalom Harlow winning a burst of applause as the show closer in a floral tulle gown.
 
 “The Medusa’s mystic powers and ever powerful persona have never been more powerful that ever,” Donatella said in her program.
 
The whole collection screamed with what Donatella defined as "Gaze Locking Print Layers", with transparent tulle covering many looks. The key fabrics, however were the dense abstract florals and marbleized prints cut into anatomically shaped patchwork party dresses. Which were in turn paired with transparent floral tights and vests. The result was a rock gypsy look that captured the new mood of optimism in the house of Versace.
 
Donatella also introduced a new bag – the Conglobo, which was inspired by vintage travel trunks, capturing the global spirit of the collection. Throughout, bags were given gypsy makeovers with powerful tartan prints and high-colour embellishment.
 
The house also assembled a front row from a massive cast of scores of influencers, all dressed in last season’s high-energy historic prints and tartans, making for a clever backdrop for the actual models.
 
The designer anchored many looks in chunky sneakers, though her favourite footwear was high-heels and Chain Reaction sandals finished with broad straps. In the exact same colours as the wristband invitation guests proudly sported on their wrists.
 
Backed up by a driving soundtrack featuring a great remix of Queen Of This Shit by the Bronx-born transgender rapper Quay Dash, this was a powerful show. Winning Donatella huge applause, even if the blonde designer immediately skipped out of the event with her bodyguards.
 
Donatella might consider a more intimate approach next season – we’ve seen a little too much of the inside of the Milan Fiera – but this show was difficult a major win of Versace.