If anyone could cement Los Angeles on the fashion month calendar, it would be the reigning queen of red carpet sensuality herself, Donatella Versace. She is, after all, the designer behind Dua Lipa’s hip-baring dress, and Lil Nas X’s head-to-toe hot pink getup. Yesterday, both pop stars, along with notable Versace devotees including Miley Cyrus, Anne Hathaway, and Elton John, nabbed front row seats to the brands Fall/Winter 2023 runway in the City of Angels.
The joint men’s and women’s ready-to-wear show, moved up a day in fear of a rainy forecast, took over the rooftop of the Pacific Design Center with no fewer than 520 guests seated in anticipation. (120 of those invitees were VIPs dressed in advance by Versace.) Gigi Hadid opened the event, dressed in a sharp, black suit jacket and pencil skirt. The show was reportedly inspired by the fashion house’s Spring/Summer 1995 collection, and yet Hadid’s exaggerated shoulder padding harckened further back to the ‘80s. The brand’s mid-’90s emphasis on tailoring, florals, and monochromatic black was revivied, though its butterfly print sadly did not make a return.
Hadid was followed down the runway by the likes of Naomi Campbell (who also walked the brand's Spring/Summer 1995 runway), Emily Ratajkowski, and Kendall Jenner. The uniform black that started and ended the show briefly morphed into trademark vibrant, Versace hues. Vivid oranges, pinks, and blues slinked along, each draped in a black, floral motif. Still, the focus here was not on an abundance of embellishments, but on letting the natural figure shine through. “The collection starts from the understanding and appreciation of the body that we have always had at Versace,” confirmed the designer in a statement. “We applied the leasons learned in the Atelier to ready-to-wear: the construction, the tailoring, the beauty of the fabric.”
