#SuzyMFW: Versace Proves The Force Of Fashion

Donatella stood on the catwalk and pressed the Google Search icon, watching as a vast number of images spread and spilled over the screen. Cut to J. Lo today swaying down the runway.

It turns out that Donatella herself is none too techno. “I never Google myself – I’m too scared – so I go on everyone else’s devices,” she admitted. “But what is so nice is that with this project I met young 20-year-olds and I was so happy to have a conversation with these people. Now it’s technology that inspires us,” she concluded.

Indeed. The show itself was not looking for glam statements and even included a pair of jeans, just right for Silicon Valley, with a wide-shouldered trench coat.https://www.instagram.com/p/B2pPNhmnWN4/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=dlfixThe first part of the presentation was of black, this-could-be-the-office clothes, with only a sweetheart neckline or wide shoulders to reinterpret Versace’s “strong woman” story. Let’s call it tailoring and workwear in a sexy way.

Then came colour: denim blue, the palm-tree green, and also Day-Glo pink and then more green shades. A blood-orange top slashed at the front to reveal pink over the bust moved towards more decorative pieces, but there was still a simple black curvy-topped dress, like the one Donatella wore when she took her bow to face-off the flamboyance of J. Lo.

The designer has done well to navigate from flagrant sexiness to a vision of powerful women in control of their lives. Let’s think of that delicate balance, like Jennifer Lopez keeping control of the slit-and-drape palm tree dress.