Donatella Versace - Designer, Creative Director of Versace

[PrinceOfCats]

I don't really have an opinion of either. I've only seen some random comments in threads here at tFS...

I just dislike them on the basis that they have more money and fame than I do

 

[kit]

Yes, I absolutely think that's true; the way we perceive clothes is often heavily influenced by the image we have of the brand. It's like we can't objectively evaluate design. We need a "lifestyle" as well as a piece of clothing. It's sad, depressing and a bit sick really.

It ALL comes from reading those glossies . The millions spent on advertising campaigns is FAR from being an unnecessary expense by the big luxury conglomerates , in fact , it's quite the reverse in creating that ' must - have ' feeling .

I'm a sucker when it comes to campaign photos , why else would I have a Louis Vuitton rucksack ? Despite the ' chav ' connotations of the brand .

Boy , am i the sick one ................

 

[Acid]

You guys don't think the brand identity built by Versace has the power to turn back into a booming business? What if they make an "it" bag, and tone down the collections to be very wearable -- they will be trendy, sexy, and prestigious clothes, just what most customers want, isn't it?

until Medusa goes......versace will never be a willing brand IMO

and by medusa i didnt mean donatella (particularly)

 

[rach2jlc]

Yes, I absolutely think that's true; the way we perceive clothes is often heavily influenced by the image we have of the brand. It's like we can't objectively evaluate design. We need a "lifestyle" as well as a piece of clothing. It's sad, depressing and a bit sick really.

I agree that it is sad, but it is hard NOT to let such an image influence us. Take Japan, for example, where Versace is a brand loved and consumed heavily by the yakuza. It makes the rest of us feel a little odd about wearing that shirt because nearly everybody immediately makes that connection (I know this from experience... as an American who came to Japan and, upon wearing a Versace shirt to dinner once, had everybody glancing nervously around the restaurant the whole time).

It would be nice NOT to have such images/influences, but it is also the case that Versace's history of indulgence and excess, which fit so well with the 1980's, established a certain type of "lifestyle", "image," and "customer" that is difficult to get away from. That customer and that image WAS Versace. Now, everybody has moved on. I think that Versace, much more than many brands, was always about a type of lifestyle. The clothes were a representation of that... but I don't think it was ever JUST about clothes. That makes it harder for Versace to move on and establish new connections with new customers.

Think of this as opposed to, say, Jil Sander... which is all about clothes and almost nothing about lifestlye. I can't picture what Jil Sander does with her time... but the images of Gianni tanning himself in his Miami palazzo are impossible to forget.

John

 

[Spike413]

Versace is definitly due for a comeback imo. I think that if Donatella sticks to the formula she used for the f/w collection of great toned down daywear that anybody can wear and a few red-carpet stunners for the celeb set, all done with a bit more restraint then usual, Versace may well be the superpower it once was. And since Ford left Gucci, Milan really doesn't have one so Versace is in a position to regain their status.

 

[jssy4eva]

i think its sort of a trend to dislike Versace, if it was exactly the same done by YSL i feel people would think everything in the collection were the most fantastic things ever...

(only way i can sort of explain this is...its a trend to hate lohan, but yet she wears the same things as richie, and if they switched outfits it would still be the same, hail richie & "ugh lohan is so tacky")

that is so true...tou literaly took the words out of my head......like how at the MTV awards..i thought lindsay looked really cute in her chanel dress...but everyone was like...she ruined the chanel dress

 

[Strut]

I like the fact that Versace is creating a new image but aren't a lot of its more recent customers wanting the more tacky, sexy "Versace" clothes? I think it may be hard for them to keep loyal buyers and reel in new ones at the same time.

 

[LostInNJ]

i think its sort of a trend to dislike Versace, if it was exactly the same done by YSL i feel people would think everything in the collection were the most fantastic things ever...

(only way i can sort of explain this is...its a trend to hate lohan, but yet she wears the same things as richie, and if they switched outfits it would still be the same, hail richie & "ugh lohan is so tacky")

Well said!

 

[orlem]

i think its sort of a trend to dislike Versace, if it was exactly the same done by YSL i feel people would think everything in the collection were the most fantastic things ever...

Sure it's a trend but people have their reasons, my reason for disliking Versace is that the clothes are meant to show off womens' breasts and body, which I don't think should be the purpose of fashion. YSL is usually too objectifying for my taste as well, but YSL doesn't show as much skin as Versace outfits do in general, so it's less offensive... Versace is the "extreme" so it's easier to hate, I guess.

 

[PrinceOfCats]

I agree that it is sad, but it is hard NOT to let such an image influence us. Take Japan, for example, where Versace is a brand loved and consumed heavily by the yakuza. It makes the rest of us feel a little odd about wearing that shirt because nearly everybody immediately makes that connection (I know this from experience... as an American who came to Japan and, upon wearing a Versace shirt to dinner once, had everybody glancing nervously around the restaurant the whole time).

It would be nice NOT to have such images/influences, but it is also the case that Versace's history of indulgence and excess, which fit so well with the 1980's, established a certain type of "lifestyle", "image," and "customer" that is difficult to get away from. That customer and that image WAS Versace. Now, everybody has moved on. I think that Versace, much more than many brands, was always about a type of lifestyle. The clothes were a representation of that... but I don't think it was ever JUST about clothes. That makes it harder for Versace to move on and establish new connections with new customers.

Think of this as opposed to, say, Jil Sander... which is all about clothes and almost nothing about lifestlye. I can't picture what Jil Sander does with her time... but the images of Gianni tanning himself in his Miami palazzo are impossible to forget.

John

When it comes down to it, everyone has an image. Even an anti-image is an image. I for one can definitely see Jil Sander in a head to foot leather cat suit having men slowly tortured with intricate devices involving needles for failing to get that super 100 Cashmere just right.

The designer, the image even the packaging are all part of the experience... I remember buying my first posh shirt from Pierre Balmain and being awed at the watermarked tissue paper pinned together with silver clips. The shirt was a hideous thing and quite forgettable, in that deep shade of purple so popular at the time, but the tissue paper was an experience. Even Rei Kawakubo says in that i-D book that she designs a brand.

A dim-witted old liver-sausage who's design aesthetic is that she wants to make women feel sexy really doesn't appeal to me. The naff clothes are an afterthought.

 

[Jacque Marcel]

Versace is just too much flash. I guess the company exists because pop stars like Xtina and Beyonce need gowns to wear to award shows, but i don't think real women buy Versace. It just seems too much.

 

[orlem]

Versace is just too much flash. I guess the company exists because pop stars like Xtina and Beyonce need gowns to wear to award shows, but i don't think real women buy Versace. It just seems too much.

Well, you're right -- most don't wear it. We had those Madonna for Versace ads posted a while ago, and she was supposed to be rich blonde executive chic. How many women does that really target?

 

[LostInNJ]

Versace is just too much flash. I guess the company exists because pop stars like Xtina and Beyonce need gowns to wear to award shows, but i don't think real women buy Versace. It just seems too much.

Versace couldn't rely on celebrities wearing the clothes to awards shows alone, for free. There would be no point to presenting collections every year. I think that the article is saying that Versace is trying to create a new image, to bring in more customers. Versace still has customers, just not as many as it did in its hey-day. If I'm not mistaken, it was said that after the Fall 2004 collection's trunk show, Versace did almost $900,000 in advanced orders for it's tweed jackets and skirts alone at Barney's (I think) in New York in just a matter of days. I think that people have a pre-conceived notion of what Versace is, and what it will always be no matter how much it changes. In Versace's case, change is happening slowly, but surely, we just have to be patient to see the "improvements."

 

[Mr-Dale]

I think that her collections have changed...they are less toned down and a lot more approachable. She isn't going to drop the Versace signatures however, if that's what you mean by it hasn't changed

I beg to differ. It always just comes down to the same. Tight pants and blouses with a finale of beaded dresses, with the same draping of the fabric and that same too high split. It has nothing to do with it being Versace and thus disliked. If it were YSL I'd that. When I was still 'new to the bizz' so to say, and I saw some Versace collection for the first time, while I didn't know that it was Versace. nor how people felt about it, I still disliked it. And the collections after that too...

 

[*Socialite*]

I beg to differ. It always just comes down to the same. Tight pants and blouses with a finale of beaded dresses, with the same draping of the fabric and that same too high split. It has nothing to do with it being Versace and thus disliked. If it were YSL I'd that. When I was still 'new to the bizz' so to say, and I saw some Versace collection for the first time, while I didn't know that it was Versace. nor how people felt about it, I still disliked it. And the collections after that too...

I'm new here, and not much of a Versace fan, but I have noticed a change in the collections. I have even found myself wanting to purchase several pieces from the collection. I posted pix from the spring 03 show and the fall 05 show to show that Versace has changed slightly.

Before: (Loud colors, and prints)

 

[*Socialite*]

After: Less overt, more mature, slightly subdued (I don't think that Versace will change its entire aesthetic [beaded gowns, form-fitting bodices, draping] because then it wouldn't be very Versace. The introduction of more "easy pieces" doesn't mean a reduction of what Versace is known for.

 

[tott]

Absolutely, Socialite; Versace is evolving, finally. I'm actually looking forward to see what will happen next...

 

[Missoni~Heiress]

omg im so getting that 1st outfit... very chic

i love versace and always will...

 

[pradaromance]

i hope the best for versace!

ps-i'd take my large black zippered versace hobo with such beautiful leather and bronze hardware over a marginal balenciaga "heyeverygirlonthecornerofthisstreetinnychasit" bag

 

[tEMA]

Aww Gosh I love the Bright Colours Runway pics!!! Have always had a thrill seeing them just love the big long straight hair and the make-up, Looks Awesome =]