It was near impossible not to be utterly transfixed by the parade of immaculately dressed supers who sauntered down the Atelier Versace runway, head to toe in the house’s autumn winter palette of deep red, plum and charcoal. This season, big, bold Versace energy reigns supreme, an eruption of sartorial strength and style. Hemlines rose higher and higher above the knee, once trite tweeds now fray in anarchical fashion, rows of pearls are interrupted with spikes and studs whilst razor sharp stilettos are slick with shine. This is the Versace woman like we’ve never seen her.
In typical Versace style, spirit and subtle sex-appeal oozes from every garment and accessory, silhouettes are exaggerated to beyond the regular, toeing the line between fierce and fiercely feminine. At the core of the collection lies the distinctive Atelier Versace bustier, part hidden by fabulously magnified shoulders and purposeful oversized outerwear, structured yet soft, both timely yet completely timeless. The perfect mix, wouldn’t you agree?
As for the accessories, Versace’s brand new Greca Goddess line of sumptuous leather clutches, shoulder bags, card wallets (and everything in between) punctuates the Fall ’22 collection perfectly. The Greca insignia, a symbol synonymous with the iconic Medusa head that’s adorned Versace collections for decades, sits in pride of place on calf-leather handbags and is hidden within chains and straps. Elsewhere, La Greca is carefully intwined into jewellery and ready-to-wear alike, repeated countlessly into a geometric pattern across knitwear and silk slip skirts, the perfect partner to slick latex covered legs.
Now, back to the bags (!) there is sculpture, there is structure, there is softness. Edges are smoothed off, rounded to give suppleness whilst corners are kept pin-sharp and precise. Available in shades of midnight black, ice white, charcoal grey and, for an instant serotonin inducing hit, bright tropical teal. Each bag, be it the large east-west shoulder or the neat clutch bag, is finished with gold La Greca motif hardware be it as a clasp or as an interchangeable smooth La Greca chain strap, ready for the wearer to snatch up at a moment’s notice and head off into the night.
As Donatella Versace, perfectly puts it, “Greek Goddesses have always been part of Versace DNA and the Greca Goddess captures their clash of cultures and emotion. Classical with a subversive rebellion, the cold metal Greca dressed in warm gold. These juxtapositions create something new. When I touch the strong, cold metal of the Greca it makes me feel my strength and confidence.”
Now, who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?