Mesh Metal ‘N’ Roll with the house on the block

Her fashion house is reportedly up for sale. Company turnover was down 15% last year. We’re in an era of quiet luxury, and her brand’s DNA is thunderous chic. But Donatella Versace still staged a great show Friday night in Milan.

 
Anyone considering acquiring the house of Versace should have attended this show, staged inside a giant 19th-century tram station in northern Milan. Amid near hysteria, thousands of fans screamed and chanted “Versace! Versace!” as editors and VIPs arrived, testifying to the brand’s unique star power. The front row, featuring new campaign ambassador and Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, was packed, with the actor ringside at this display.
 
According to reports, Prada has been granted exclusive rights for four weeks to review the Versace financials with an eye toward acquisition. Even though the two labels’ DNAs—and their runway shows—are light years apart, with Prada’s cerebral chic versus Versace’s rock ‘n’ roll glamor.

Inside the station, Donatella constructed a 150-meter-long catwalk, which the cast stomped down in a series of fresh takes on signature codes invented by Gianni and Donatella Versace. Playing with bold cheetah prints—seen in puffer jackets, silk dressing gowns, party shirts, and a couple of stupendous down mini cocktail dresses in large petal shapes.

 
Donatella also trumpeted another Versace innovation: the chain-metal dress with a stupendous cocktail in degraded metallic silver and a later column—both blinding and beautiful. She also drew inspiration from posh punk styles, as seen in Gianni Versace‘s finale show just before her brother’s 1997 death.

 
Versace was once known for making the leanest and most refined black suits for evening wear in fashion. This season, it reclaimed that status with some excellent soirée tailoring.
 
Six years ago, Capri Holdings paid $2.1 billion for Versace. Few people expect it to fetch that price post-COVID, with consumers far more interested in foreign travel than in more frocks.
 
Still, this was Donatella Versace’s best show of the decade, backed by the best soundtrack in Milan with roaring mixes of Sworn Virgins, Dry Cleaning, and David Holmes. Few serious professionals believe her position is under threat—despite internet chatter. But if it were one of her last collections, then it was a big, bold, winning statement.