Versace mixes it for the new model generation
Fashion house is taking its inspiration from the young stars of today’s catwalk, says Donatella
“FOR a long time we didn’t have supermodels. Now they’re back again, but in a different way.”
So pronounced Donatella Versace in London for a preview of her autumn/ winter 2017 Versus Versace collection ahead of last night’s show. “I always look at Gigi and Bella, because they are young.” Indeed, the eternally blonde, bronzed Italian designer had kept the Hadid girls – with their taut midriffs, rock-star boyfriends and 40 millionplus combined Instagram following – front of mind when creating the range for Versace’s party-loving sister line.
Both Gigi and Bella were due on the catwalk for the show, which took cues from their well-documented wardrobe preferences: cropped tops with lowslung trousers; short, slinky dresses and boots aplenty – ideal for stomping through the British winter and sprinting through paparazzi scrums.
In place of last season’s skintight camo and abbreviated MA-1 bomber jackets, this collection addressed what the Versus shopper needs to round out her wardrobe. (Or his; about a third of the looks were menswear). “I don’t think a collection should have a theme any more,” Donatella said. “It should be individual pieces, for different personalities.”
The dominant personality type catered to? Loud and fun, just like a Versus show. Its British-led design team (“They are young, fresh and dynamic, and they are making me that way”) created the collection’s three original prints by ripping up 20 years of the brand’s lookbooks, collaging them and photographing the results. These came printed on tees, jackets, trousers and lightweight aluminium mesh dresses – daywear in the Versus Versace dress code. The kickers came in the details, like the microbags built into leather belts, and the knitted cuffs extending from the sleeves of a cropped burgundy neoprene jacket. Logos, showing up on high-fashion runways in force, appeared here too, spelling out the brand name on elastic waistbands and down the sides of those chainmail dresses. Patches, handbags, single statement earrings – all had a place in this cannily merchandised show.
One thing you won’t see in the collection is anything available to buy this morning. Donatella was among the first designers to experiment with See-Now, Buy-Now collections, starting with Anthony Vaccarello’s spring-summer 2016 Versus range. “It was not a good experience. I don’t know why people think it’s so good now,” she said of the format adopted by Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren, among other brands. “You lose the magic a little bit.”
She prefers to keep the innovation in the clothes. Take that not-so-heavy metal. In technology borrowed from sportswear, the chainmail pieces are glued together rather than sewn. This short-cut saves something like 30 hours of work per piece. The same bonding technique showed up in the boots, including a waterproof neoprene utility style for men. “They’re super-comfortable,” Donatella said, before glancing down at her four-inch-heeled boots and smiling, “but not for me.”