what Suzy Menkes has to say about Versace FW0607
It was "V" day for Versace - not just for the new logo flashing as the backdrop to Friday's show, but also because it was a victory of style over flash.
Not that Donatella Versace had lowered the sheen quotient: It beamed from the shiny runway, from the gleaming short coats and from the high boots. But the designer had also worked hard to ease up on the sexy stuff - give or take a split leg on an evening gown and the pouting mouths and sooty eyes of the straight-haired models.
Instead, Versace had a new geometry: drawn with a square for the linear daywear and with a compass for the tucked and draped silk jersey evening dresses that are the fruit of the handworkers in her couture atelier.
"It's for strong women who want to step forward," said Versace, whose way of moving ahead without betraying the brand underlined one of the big stories of the winter 2006 Italian season: a question of identity.
With Gucci inspired by the era of 1980s Gianni Versace ("which I take as compliment," his sister says) and with some established names understandably trying to take on a youthful perspective, it is more than ever critical to keep a brand's DNA.
"It's still very Versace, but I want to move away from what I did before," said the designer, referring to her idea of loosening up the tight-waisted glamour of last season. Instead the designer worked on geometric shapes, which always look a little 1960s when teamed with ultra-short hemlines and leggings. But, as the designer said, a lot of workmanship went into the shaping of her triangular-cut dresses, which had a "V" for Versace in the seaming, as a new logo.
The coats were short and sharp, fur- trimmed, or even resolutely square, contrasting with a different cocoon silhouette. Both graphic shapes revealed long legs in thick hose and shoes with purple soles. Colors often combined ink blue with black, which is a strong trend, while the palette included wine red and shades of blue-green from kingfisher to turquoise.
Elizabeth Hurley, a Versace mascot, sitting front row with David Furnish, Elton John's partner, licked her glossy lips as the draped dress came out. She and Ciara, hip-hop singer, songwriter and Grammy award winner, swooned over red carpet gowns that slithered over bodies shaped by the drapes. Versace is off to Los Angeles next week to prep for the Academy Awards, where she hopes to score with stars walking the red carpet.