Sun 19th February
Call this a Hadid sandwich. One super sister opened (Gigi), the other closed (Bella). And in between? Well that would be a collection of other young supers bedecked in the AW17 Versus Versace collection. I mean who else but Donatella herself could get us all the way to W14? It started with a bit of a light show. Ouuu. A sort of laser cage situation, from which the models came forth. This was sporty. Sexually sporty, let’s call it. Lots of scuba – mini scuba dresses that skimmed the body and rose up into upper thigh touching slits, emblazoned with Versus Versace on the neckline or sleeve, or just-as-mini crop tops that revealed the model’s taut tums. We’re assuming best used out of water, but if one was ever in need of an arresting surf look, this is your girl. Also on the sporty theme was the outerwear. Big old puffas in either block-colour stripes or a black-and-white print, based on old, torn up iterations of the Versace logo. Some nice maroon parkas. A sort of play on the tracksuit – for the girls, remade into a cut-out sweater dress, for the boys the trackpant came in not in common old jersey but gabardine wool. Think of this as the new Versace generation. Donatella said it was all about unity. The United States of Versus. “Fashion has the power to send out a message of hope and unity, especially to the new generation. Versus is about passion, optimism and a fierce statement of equality,” she said. And all set to, as all fashion shows should be, pumping techno. So pumping, in fact, it made the chairs vibrate in quite a satisfying manner. Call it a multi-sensory experience. Thanks Donatella – it’s always a pleasure.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
