The Versace pre-fall 2024 collection freely followed in the footsteps of the “Icons” project, the brand’s push on timeless designs that was communicated earlier this year with a dedicated and buzzy campaign fronted also by Anne Hathaway, who is Hollywood elite but maintains an approachable charm with her fresh image and girl-next-door attitude, contributing to ground the brand’s luxe garments in everyday life.
In her latest effort, Donatella Versace continued to telegraph this spirit and further build on the house’s iconic staples, here rendered in new fabrications. The goal was to deliver wardrobe archetypes in their best fit and elevated form. These included the perfect cashmere coat, the perfect tailored suit, the perfect knit and even the perfect cargo pants, an item the brand’s chief creative officer seems to be fond of as of lately.
“This collection is a very personal reflection of the pieces I love the most at Versace and wear every day and the pieces I like most on the men around me,” she confirmed.
A look at the archives was a natural exercise to reprise not only the brand’s signature flamboyant prints but also to introduce a touch of transparency and lightness within the proposition, via flounces and ajour details inspired by her brother Gianni’s collections, unlined tailoring and see-through effects informing her fresh take on utilitarian style.
When mingled together, all these elements had an effortlessly cool vibe. Cue a Barocco-patterned cashmere-blend jacquard coat nonchalantly thrown over stone-washed denim pants, or tweed cropped jackets with a bourgeois feel juxtaposed to roomy and baggy cargo pants.
Tailoring was particularly in focus, both in lightweight cool wool suits and in the more eveningwear-leaning options, which included a tuxedo minidress with a sharp and feminine hourglass shape reminiscent of the charming silhouettes of the Versace fall 2023 show held in Los Angeles last March.
Interrupting the mainly neutral color palette or grays, camel and black, the house’s Barocco and La Coupe des Dieux prints flashed from frocks, knits and a luxe puffer in habotai silk treated for the outdoors. Black cocktail dresses incorporated the patterns in tubular details outlining sinuous cutouts, offering a more discreet yet seductive take on the theme.
A single metal mesh party dress was retooled and easier in a lighter structure compared to the iconic Atelier Versace versions — a testament to the brand’s timeless codes and its ability to perfect them over time — and at a sweeter price point to boot.