been saying, that push from the low end made her believe she can dare to reclaim the Versace high ground, too.
Couture, of course, is where a designer gets to show off the bravura skills and innovations of his or her atelier (and come to think of it, Donatella is the only “her” in couture, except for Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri). One of Versace’s signatures is complex piecing, micro-calculated to hug the contours of the body while exposing—or appearing to expose—as much skin as possible.
Couture, of course, is where a designer gets to show off the bravura skills and innovations of his or her atelier (and come to think of it, Donatella is the only “her” in couture, except for Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri). One of Versace’s signatures is complex piecing, micro-calculated to hug the contours of the body while exposing—or appearing to expose—as much skin as possible.
In this collection, she deployed every technique in the arsenal to that effect, creating sinuous, patchworked dresses of crystal-beaded chiffon—the best, in beige, slithering over every inch of the chameleon form of Karlie Kloss—as well as minidresses in chain mail, latticework corsets constructed from strips of patent leather, and short coats pieced from variegated zones of perforated leather.
As for innovation? Donatella likes to incorporate nontraditional materials into couture. Where last season that meant presenting her studios with the challenge of inserting shards of metal into dresses, this time the task was how to sew the finest hi-tech Japanese polyester into floating, shimmery skirts—so lightweight that they seemed to flutter almost in slow motion, with a life of their own.
The overall concept, according to program notes, was taken from the design of tarot cards, but once the materials had been diced up and reconstructed, not much of that source was still visible, except perhaps, the roman numeral XIX on a belt—although at first sight, that might equally be mistaken as the ideal age of a Versace wearer. What, though, of the judgment call Donatella may have been avoiding all these years—the comparison between her work and her brother’s?
The overall concept, according to program notes, was taken from the design of tarot cards, but once the materials had been diced up and reconstructed, not much of that source was still visible, except perhaps, the roman numeral XIX on a belt—although at first sight, that might equally be mistaken as the ideal age of a Versace wearer. What, though, of the judgment call Donatella may have been avoiding all these years—the comparison between her work and her brother’s?
Well, these are different times, and Donatella Versace’s touch is softer—the color palette less strident, the accessorizing less fierce. Perhaps this time she was just putting a toe in the water, not wanting to risk too many references to the past. Yet perhaps that’s just the direction her audience, old and new, are willing her towards—more bling, more sexiness, more fun and irony. All they’re waiting for her to do now is to let loose and take it to the max.
by Sarah Mower via: vogue
by Sarah Mower via: vogue
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