In the world of luxury and fashion, the name that continuously echoes through the years is none other than Versace. The Versace name is marked by glamour, sophistication, and unrivaled mastery, and Donatella Versace stitched and beaded that legacy for almost 3 decades. After 28 years, Donatella Versace is stepping down as the creative director of Versace.
The designer announced her departure from the brand after the release of her Fall/Winter Ready-to-Wear collection at Milan Fashion Week. For the first time in the brand’s 47-year history, Versace will be run by a designer, not in the Versace family. Now, former Miu Miu design director, Dario Vitale will take her place.
Donatella took us through most of the ’90s, the 2000s, the 2010s, and most of the 2020s serving look-after-look. With every collection, she reinforces a legacy that is synonymous with quality and elegance. The life of Versace comes from its chaotically beautiful clash of irreverent references. Many collections interplay the tensions between classical and contemporary, Italian tradition with modern innovation, rock with royalty, and myth with today’s glamour.
Donatella built a legacy shaping a creative culture through its classic silhouettes, raw fashion moments, and timeless heritage of Italian artisanship. For almost 30 years, Donatella continued her brother’s legacy, building a name for herself, and the brand. The Versace name is more than just a brand, it’s a lifestyle and attitude that embraces uniqueness and free expression.
Donatella Versace’s iconic designs
After 28 years, Donatella has sealed herself a legacy that will permanently imprint on the Fashion world. One of her most notable designs, the jungle dress, comes from Versace’s Spring/Summer 2000 collection. The dress is made of a draped semi-sheer green printed silk chiffon fabric. The design includes a dramatic plunging neckline that extends below the navel and a flowing floor-length skirt with a revealing thigh-high slit. To say the dress was popular is an understatement, as it is the sole reason why Google Image Search was created. To think, without Versace, we may not have gotten one of the most helpful tools today.
The 2000s also saw a plethora of silk, satin, metallic lame, and chiffon as the Versace house poured various looks of calm and luxurious feminity. The use of these fabrics heightened the fluidity as models made their way down the runway. Many of Versace’s looks including satin and silk involved delicate draping.
The Versace style
In Versace’s FW 2006/2007 collection, Vladya works a deep, jewel-toned, blue dress with a form-fitting bodice. The dress, as many of the Versace designs include intricate pleats and architectural folds, creating a dramatic effect. One of Versace’s signature elements, the high slit, made its way into various collections, reinforcing the sensuality and fluidity of Versace’s silhouettes.
Versace elements often mix to exude sleek and sexy, but also dramatic while pulling together to create luxurious designs. Notable house codes include daring cutouts, asymmetrical draping, illusion mesh, and corseted bodices. To bring out the tough spirit of the Versace woman, metallic fabrics and armor details painted the heroic Versace woman.
Throughout her years, Donatella Versace also honored her brother through various designs of black and gold. Gianni Versace marked the fashion industry with his black and gold baroque print designs. Notably, his coveted safety pin designs made a comeback as Donatella put her own twist on her brother’s classic design.
All eyes on Versace
Through the past 28 years, Donatella Versace designed over 80 collections through Versace, the ready-to-wear house, and Atelier Versace, the Haute Couture house. As most of the collections include soft materials and color palettes, rhinestones, sequins, and Swarovski crystals lit up the collections. Sitting on the trims, slits, and cutouts of various designs, delicate embellishments lifted the ethereal designs to a new level.
A notable design of Donatella’s made its debut during Versace’s Fall/Winter 2002 Ready-to-Wear collection. The design caught waves when Britney Spears appeared at Milan Fashion Week for Versace’s Spring/Summer 2003 show. The dress, also known as the “butterfly dress,” is a floor-length nude mesh dress. The nude backdrop allows for the vibrant multi-colored sequins and beading to shine. Each sequin and bead is perfectly placed to follow the vertical neckline and single strap to create a subtle butterfly pattern.
Unmatched Met Gala presence
The fashion event to end all fashion events is none other than the Met Gala. Of course, Versace’s presence at the Met Gala is undeniable as her designs always catch everyone’s eyes. When it comes to the Met Gala, Donatella Versace is always on top of every theme.
2018 is undeniably the best year for the Met Gala as every designer came to show off and impress the masses. The theme for the year: Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination. Of course, the first part of the theme, Heavenly Bodies, is the theme for the attendees, while Fashion and the Catholic Imagination describe the exhibit.
One of the most popular and best looks in Met Gala history is Blake Lively’s 2018 Met Gala gown, designed by Donatella Versace. The design itself is a dramatic crimson ball gown with a structured corseted bodice. The gown is embroidered with delicate gold details while the corset and straps are bejeweled in various gems. The gown falls into a dramatic 10-foot flowing crimson train with rich gold embroidery.
Versace’s Met takeover
Also at the 2018 Met Gala, Donatella Versace was spotted on Gigi Hadid. The supermodel wore a single-shoulder gown with beaded crystal detail throughout that mimics a stained-glass window. The beading palette ranges from white and clear, to shades of pink and blue, green, purple, and deep red. Gold crystals outline various sections, creating a stained-glass effect. The shimmering segments of fabric and crystals come together to create a design reminiscent of an ancient cathedral.
The last showstopper at the 2018 Met Gala wearing Versace was none other than Zendaya. Zendaya came to the steps in a custom metallic Versace gown inspired by Joan of Arc. The gown features a structured neckplate and shoulder guards and a wide armor belt with studs adorning the top half. The dress consists of a grey and silver semi-transparent beaded fabric that flows down into a stunning train.
Yet another Versace moment with Blake Lively happened at the 2022 Met Gala. The design itself is a tulle column dress embroidered with crystal, metallic leather, paillette, and tri-tone copper foil duchesse. At the waist sits an oversized foiled bow that unraveled to reveal a second look in Verdigris patina. The transformation mirrors the transformation of the Statue of Liberty from bronze to oxidized green. A hand-painted, foiled, and embroidered celestial map lies on the dramatic duchesse train. The map pulls inspiration from the 12 zodiac constellations that decorate the ceiling of Grand Central Station.
The Versace runways
The Versace runway is a center of empowerment that embodies a high-glamour spectacle that is bold as it merges luxury, sensuality, and power. Each collection reflects the house’s DNA and continuously solidifies the brand’s legacy. Confidence is key to Versace runways and Versace models exude a bold presence with each strut. Accordingly, the designs often reflect that as sharp tailoring and bold cuts create daring silhouettes.
A Versace runway exudes sexy as many collections feature figure-hugging gowns, high slits, plunging necklines, and revealing cutouts. Notably, the brand’s Spring 2023 Ready-To-Wear collection combines all those elements for their rebel woman. Versace’s Spring 2023 Ready-To-Wear collection embodies the rebel woman as various slits, revealing cutouts, and sultry lace in a deep color palette storm down the runway. This particular collection mixes gothic elements with the sultry demeanor of women to encapsulate the Versace diva.
The fierce Versace diva
Many Versace collections play with sensuality as Donatella does not shy from projecting a strong sense of femineity. A common code of the designers includes various Greco-Roman-inspired elements that she blended with modern influences. Various collections included draped gowns reminiscent of Greek togas and chitons. Of course, the brand’s logo itself pulls from Greek mythology as a stylized head of Medusa sits within a Greek border circle.
Notably, sensual draping and corseted bodices make up a majority of Versace’s Spring Haute Couture ’04 collection. This particular collection is all about maximalist luxury that emboldens the Versace woman. Many 2000s Versace collections consist of smooth designs of satin, chiffon, and organza that move like liquid as they flow on the body. Amongst the bare fabric, delicate accents of lace, filigree embroidering, and intricate beading of crystals and sequins add depth and character.
One thing is for sure, Donatella Versace’s presence and power in fashion are truly undeniable. Donatella is probably one of the only people in the world who can reunite some of the world’s most powerful 90s supermodels for a singular show. For Versace’s Spring 2018 collection, Donatella brought back Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Carla Bruni, and Helena Christiansen to honor her brother. The show took place 20 years after Gianni Versace’s tragic murder to honor his legacy and dedication to his craft.
Despite Donatella Versace’s reign unfortunately coming to an end, her legacy will forever be engrained in the fabric of time that is fashion history.
