Versace S/S 2018

Versace S/S 2018. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Mood board: The mood at Versace was ... pure Versace. It has been 20 years since Gianni Versace’s death, and his sister Donatella chose to revisit some of the house’s earlier statements. Reflecting on the history of the house, S/S 2018 is something of a reset on the Versace codes: the baroque silk printed foulards, the lux leisurewear, the pinstripe suits are all back and they mean business. Sneakers were moulded on the heel with the Medusa or Greek Key and velvet slip-ons were embroidered with crowns. The collection reflected the archives in a way that felt measured and instinctive. ‘This collection is like a homecoming. It’s about the passions that define Versace, the complexity of men, the energy of today,’ Donatella said.

Best in show: Silk shirts in baroque and optic prints were spliced together, stonewash denim jackets patch-worked with Versace denim prints. An instant hit will be the return of the 1989 Versace logo – embroidered in white on baby blue and pale pink T-shirts and worn on the catwalk with matching straight leg jeans. A nineties revival has been mooted at many of the S/S 2018 shows. If you’re going to do it, do it the Versace way.

Scene setting: An elevated glass catwalk snaked through the lush courtyard of the Versace family palazzo on Via Gesù, smack bang in the heart of Milan. The house was originally acquired from the Rizzoli family in 1981 and this show marked a return to the venue. Fun fact: Gianni was inspired to create the infamous Versace Medusa logo from a pebbled fresco on this courtyard’s very floor.

Male models wearing navy and light blue clothes from the Versace S/s 2018 collection — Versace S/S 2018

Male models wearing black and red clothes from the Versace S/s 2018 collection — Versace S/S 2018

Male models wearing white and brightly patterned clothes from the Versace S/s 2018 collection — Versace S/S 2018

Male models wearing blue clothes from the Versace S/s 2018 collection — Versace S/S 2018

London based writer Dal Chodha is editor-in-chief of Archivist Addendum — a publishing project that explores the gap between fashion editorial and academe. He writes for various international titles and journals on fashion, art and culture and is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. Chodha has been working in academic institutions for more than a decade and is Stage 1 Leader of the BA Fashion Communication and Promotion course at Central Saint Martins. In 2020 he published his first book SHOW NOTES, an original hybrid of journalism, poetry and provocation.