The gang was all there. Gigi, Kendall, Karlie, Mariacarla, Jourdan and Natasha all walked the Versace catwalk on Friday night. And that was just the tip of the supermodel iceberg. There is just something about this brand that demands, and expects, the best. After all, they are there to represent one of fashion’s powerhouse businesswoman — Donatella Versace.
And like any savvy businesswoman she was able to read the fashion tea leaves and effortlessly tapped into this season’s growing athleticwear trend, a style that folded in 80s icy pastel color palette subtext to give the idea a touch of retro cool.
Versace’s confidence continues to grow, as proven in the way she recently moved past her brand’s more traditional tropes to bring in a few new codes to call her own. One of the strongest from this latest show was the expert insertion of invisible zippers into different parts of her body-hugging designs. The way they curved across a leg, bisected a sporty top or were left undone to expose a leg made it possible for the woman wearing a garment to determine the level of sexiness she wanted to display herself. That sort of sartorial control is Versace at its best.
Even Hadid’s nip slip, while wearing the final gown — a black number with lines of jagged sequins that resembled what you might see on a Richter scale readout — became a moment of female empowerment in the vein of the Femen movement. Versace gave the model a high five as they crossed paths during the finale and afterwards Hadid posted a message on Twitter about the wardrobe malfunction. She used it as a way to promote Versace’s chain link jewelry, the perfect example of a woman taking control of her narrative and creating her own history.
Versace would be proud.