A New Dawn for Versace
Donatella Versace, the current creative director of Versace, is known for her love of the past, for the golden age of the Italian fashion house when Giovanni Versace, her brother, created a new, fresh feel to Italian fashion. Is it appropriate to consider Versace to be in another golden age or is it just chasing a shadow of its former glory? A question that many fans and customers have been pondering for quite some time.
With the debut of her newest menswear collection, Donatella Versace has reinstated her reign over the iconic Italian fashion house with a bold, new design. She dared to reimagine a new image for the brand through the use of eye-catching garments and fabrics, while still staying true to Giovanni’s use of vivid colors and flamboyant symbolism.
The collection started with the use of a heavy, rich red color that was apparent all the way to the middle of the collection. The red was often balanced with the combination of black and white garments, creating a harmony that was pleasing and interesting to the eye. Anyone can send a black garment down the runway, but Donatella opted to use fabrics that had more of a shine to it to make a typically dull black color exciting. Black leather and satin were featured heavily in the first half with small accents of gold placed here and there – buttons, bracelets, bags, and belts – definitely a nod back to Giovanni Versace.
Midway through the show, the collection took a complete 180. Black, red, and white were a thing of the past. Stripes, cheetah print, hot pink, and neon yellow were suddenly introduced onto the runway. While this portion of the collection was eerily similar to a majority of Moschino collections under Jeremy Scott, it was refreshing to see Versace embrace its playful side. This portion of the collection used streetwear-esque silhouettes, which may signal another luxury brand opting to sell to its younger customer base, such as Balenciaga. Oversized blazers, shoulder bags, and mixing of garments that no one would ever think went together was seen throughout the second half of the show.
Overall, this collection was entirely unexpected. Donatella is known for her references to the past, leading some fashion critics to speculate that Donatella would never step out of her brother’s shadow. With this new collection, Versace is on the road to major success, especially with the younger generations. Versace has always valued its uniqueness and its ability to step outside of the box. To be able to try new things and experiment. This latest collection from Donatella has embodied these values perfectly.