Donatella Versace put her outlook for the future on her spaceman Adonis’ sleeve this season at Versace menswear in Milan, an outlook that was for all intents and purposes, the male version of Barbarella. Then again, perhaps Donatella is also pinning her hopes on an even brighter future at the house, but one thing is for certain, her astrological signs are wired to out-of-this-world masculinity.
Excusing all of the space age puns, but of course cherry-picking a few for good measure, it is important to note that Donatella did stay true to what Versace menswear is. The machismo was unashamed; the sense of the urban life was unadulterated and undoubtedly high fashion whilst the whole bravado-lead affair fit nicely into it’s own niche “tribe”. That and the fact that the intergalactic theme will make this more immediately memorable than season’s past represented a winning formula.
High points that really launched the collection included a more muted but instantly impactful colour palette and other worldly shapes that we haven’t seen for a while, this side of a Thierry Mugler ad. Even higher points, so high they were scraping the ozone layer, included the fastenings, with Versace really making utility their own this season.
The Go-Pro cameras fastened to models pectorals was a little too out-there-utility but the aviator jackets crowded with buckles and backpack looks worked better than ever before.
This certainly won’t be the final frontier for Versace, though it ticked most of the right boxes a few hearty medusa heads were missing – for this writer anyway, but it was still a pretty giant step for one of Italian fashion’s key players.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Versace