Versace rallies for strength, unity and sex appeal as Kendall Jenner, Gigi and Bella Hadid walk her latest Milan Fashion Week show

With business booming and a new star designer rumoured to be joining the fold at Versace, the future certainly looks bright for the house
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Karen Dacre24 February 2017

An Italian fashion designer may be unlikely contender to lead Europe’s opposition to Donald Trump but Donatella Versace and her all woman army seem game for the task.

Waging her own war on a Trumpian world, Versace said she had been thinking about “the power of women” ahead of her Milan Fashion Week show last night, adding: “we need to take pride in all that we have achieved and unify in order to male a better future. It could all end tomorrow”.

While the Italian made no mention of the U.S president, it is impossible to consider her latest production - a block buster in which Gigi Hadid took to the catwalk in a slashed to the thigh ruffle trim cocktail dress alongside her sister Bella, Kendall Jenner and Amber Valletta - as anything other than a battle cry on behalf of women everywhere.

Versace is a literal designer and accordingly the key themes at work within this collection came splayed across it. Sheer t-shirts which hosted the word ‘positivity' were worn alongside gloves emblazoned with ‘loyal’ with beanies sporting 'love' also featured.

Getty Images

Versace set out to fight for freedom with this collection and there was evidence of that everywhere with the show’s leading lady cutting ferocious figure in stomping stacked sole boots, dark hoods and menacing looking puffer jackets among the key features.

An acid palette of citrus yellow and electric blue served to further harness this idea. But there was also a sense of softness in the mix with floral splayed shift dresses inset with panels devore. The designer also looked to offer a more fluid take on her signature silhouette with a rounder, smoother shoulder shape prevailing.

Seen through the eyes of Versace, a woman who travels by private jet, lives in gilted splendour and resides over one of the most powerful fashion businesses in Italy, these were clothes for women for all walks of life.

Accordingly, streetwear played a leading role. Perhaps inspired by the trend for sportswear that has taken the Paris catwalks by storm, Versace included more separates than is common place for one of her sexually charged productions with classic white shirts among the collection’s most revered inclusions.

AFP/Getty Images

Citing optimism, Versace’s vision came with a recurring floral motif - harness on mink coats and cocktail dresses - which was symbolic of a hope. With business booming and a new star designer rumoured to be joining the fold at Versace, the future certainly looks bright for the house.

Having ended his contract with Givenchy earlier this month, designer Riccardo Tisci is reported to have scored a new job leading the Versace house into a new era. The house has declined to comment on such reports.

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