With a dossier filled to the brim with ‘90s supermodels, you can always count on Donatella Versace to put on a show. And the Versace SS22 Ready-To-Wear collection was no exception, with Donatella’s little black book also extending to the TikTok generation, with the likes of Dua Lipa, Lourdes Leon, and Emily Ratajkowski joining models Gigi Hadid and Adut Akech, as well as veteran supermodels Irina Shayk and Naomi Campbell on the runway.
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Singer Dua Lipa made her runway debut in a figure-hugging cutout jacket and pencil skirt with its side slit held together with colourful safety pins, a nod to that dress worn by Liz Hurley in 1994. An homage to the all-black uniform ensued, with a plethora of little black dresses and some relaxed tailoring. The flow from black into colour occurred seamlessly, with each black look introducing more colour until the signature Versace baroque silks came out.
Versace’s greatest hits were resurrected for the TikTok era, bringing back the eurotrash appeal the Italian luxury fashion house was once known for. The archival Medusa print and the new take on the La Greca motif both appear; taking over silk handkerchief tops and dresses, and serving as a patchwork on denim dresses and basketball silks. Versace SS22 quickly descended into a full-on colour explosion with a veritable rainbow of latex dresses, louche tailoring, and vibrantly dyed chainmail. In keeping with the what’s old is now new again tone, Versace SS22 saw the reintroduction of the Italian fashion house’s invariably gaudy logo t-shirts and muscle tanks, though perhaps the sheer nostalgia will make them appealing to a younger generation of buyers.
Versace SS22 comes full circle, as another series of black looks flanks the collection; with Versace’s take on evening wear including yet another iteration of the black and gold safety pin dress that will likely never die. One is given a momentary respite from the colourful chaos before Dua Lipa closes the show clad in a fuschia pink chainmail two-piece set.
Words by Theo Rosen
