Versace S/S 2019 Milan Fashion Week Men’s

Versace S/S 2019 - Model wears a silver snakeskin dress — Versace S/S 2019. Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

(Image credit: Jason Lloyd-Evans)

Mood board: There’s a knowing chutzpah to Donatella Versace. In everything she does, from her tongue-in-cheek postings on social media with her Jack Russell, Audrey, to her peppy catwalk shows with their glitz, sex and gloss, she is marching the house of Versace into our brave new world. For so long, the label’s menswear has been the archetype for Italian machismo; eschewing stiff sprezzatura, the Versace brand has always catered for the most self-assured of men. For S/S 2019 this manifests into riffs on what power dressing can mean in a #metoo world; the clothes were inspired by what Donatella claimed were many different kinds of men, from the street-style peacocks to boardroom executives.

Sound bite: These loud clothes are for proud men. ‘I conceived these clothes thinking that each of them could find something that perfectly fits his personal style. These are men who do not care about the rules and that is exactly what I love: they have an opinion and make their own style choices,’ Versace said. The season’s muse isn’t looking for permission to dress how he wants.

Best in show: The fragrant sensuality is pervasive. The muse for S/S 2019 is mixing lace, sheer, neon and floral prints; he is wearing a small fluro green shoulder bag, taken from the women’s collection, across the body. Traditional tailoring is paired with roomy denim. Splashed over shirts and t-shirts is a fun, fake tabloid print which the show notes say reference our celebrity-obsessed times. They nod to the styling of the early Noughties and Galliano’s newspaper print from the turn of the new millennium, currently racking up likes on Instagram.

Versace S/S 2019 - Models hold Versace newspapers — Versace S/S 2019. *Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans*

Versace S/S 2019 - Model wears a red pair of snakeskin jeans — Versace S/S 2019. *Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans*

Versace S/S 2019 - Model wears a neon pink suit — Versace S/S 2019. *Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans*

Versace S/S 2019 - Models walk down the catwalk wearing bright coloured suits — Versace S/S 2019. *Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans*

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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.