This was not a typical fashion show. Versus effectively relaunched itself tonight, and in spectacular style: Donatella Versace threw a proper soiree, live-streamed to the Internet masses, with catwalking interspersed with live performances by the likes of Angel Haze and Grimes. And the clothes? They could be purchased online, to be delivered pretty much straight off the runway. The future of fashion has arrived, in other words. And it is black and white and vinyl.
Versace chose to show only a small group of the Versus "core" collection tonight; the emphasis was on zebra-striped club-kid looks in vinyl, for both girls and boys, and pieces that deployed signature Versus hardware, such as oversize safety pins. Online shoppers, meanwhile, would find the runway collection elaborated by studded leathers, op-art-patterned jeans, and pieces in a bold belt print, one of which was modeled by Haze during her performance. Shoppers would also find that the prices of these items were relatively non-shocking—a belt-print tee, for instance, retailed for $195.
As fashion goes, these clothes weren't life-changing. It was easy to imagine various of the women's pieces being go-tos for girls' nights out on the town, which was entirely the point; the menswear, on the other hand, would appeal to a more daring customer. But that guy exists. All in all, this collection, and the hoopla surrounding it, seemed very tapped in to the Versus DNA; back in the nineties, Donatella Versace launched Versus as the younger, clubbier sister brand of Versace, and that spirit was resurrected here.
