What Are We Expecting of the New Versace?

There’s a grainy still you can occasionally come across within the innermost recesses of Pinterest that’s seared onto my mind as one of those definitive turning points in fashion history. It’s Britney (insert b-word), alighting from her white convertible in a wispy white shift dress, clutching in her arms a nearly-finished Starbucks, a flip-phone (immediately dating the picture), and not one, but two white barrel-shaped Versace bowlers.

The picture isn’t quite what Signora Donatella had envisioned as a momentous occasion for her namesake, taken sometime at the tail-end of the aughties – at the peak of the pop-star’s highly-publicized paparazzi meltdown.

Versace, after all, had always managed to maintain its relevance within the fashion news circuit in some way or another. Right from Gianni Versace’s the Futurists collection from SS82, through the 1994 premier of Four Weddings and a Funeral featuring Elizabeth Hurley and that risqué safety-pin laden LBD, across the founder’s tragic passing in 1997 at the hands of a luxury-obsessed shooter, onto the turn of the millennium and the twirl of JLo’s plunging green number, it had been a house that defined the decades.

So, it’s true to form that Britney’s batch of Versace bags (the official name is “Snap Out of It”) quite literally snapped us out of the rabid excesses of the noughties and ushered us into an era of minimalism. The only catch? The brand has never really had a viral, decade-defining moment since.

Something that we hope is about to change real soon.

End of an Era

Gianni’s Versace, with its Medusa monogram and maximalist motifs, became the signature aesthetic of the ’80s – and honestly, never quite stopped being that way. Then again, as Amanda writes, “I’m not sure if it’s fair to criticize Versace for being too crassly and uncreatively 80s – after all, that’s perhaps similar to criticizing Dior for being too New Look.”

While the look—unapologetically loud and unabashedly bold—definitely wasn’t for everyone, it was nonetheless a look that continued to sell. So, by the time the empire was passed onto the youngest Versace—Signora Donatella—in the aftermath of her brother’s murder, the brand spanned numerous offshoots, from ready-to-wear and accessories to couture, fragrances, homewares, and hotels.

It was under the design doyenne’s direction, therefore, the brand had become so culturally resonant as it is today – even if it doesn’t warrant a spot in our wardrobes – be it in the form of the Jennifer Lopez chiffon green jungle dress that went onto give us Google Images, Carrie Bradshaw’s ruffled couture gown – a Patricia Field favorite – that, as per AJLT, “I’ve only worn her twice. Once in Paris. And once here, just for fun,” – or the recreation of Britney’s 2002 archival Versace moment by Blake Lively last year.

One can only imagine the shock when—after a thirty-year tenure—Donatella’s imminent departure was announced last March—and not entirely for voluntary reasons either!

The Italian Job

“Miuccia Prada,” writes Alexander Fury, “is a profoundly illogical designer.”

Prada’s exploration – or, in Fury’s words, glorification – of the “anti, the counter and the ugly, is fundamentally about making us desire what received opinion deems undesirable.” Be it the bulbous bowlers that graced SS2000 runways when Fendi’s Baguette was the bag du jour, or a riff on a “Chanel bag in nylon, which was a joke for me,” quips the designer, there’s something pioneering, even perverse, about Prada, which later extended to Miu Miu.

Hence, it seemed right up the Miuccia alley when, after a 2018 acquisition by Capri Holdings, Prada Group snapped up Versace for $1.38 billion. And now, the Medusa-emblazoned maison joins the Prada Group’s $15 billion portfolio – including flagship Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe, Marchesi 1824, and Luna Rossa.

But the question is, does it make sense?

Pauline Brown, former LVMH chairperson of North America, opines, “The Bertellis have long aspired to build an LVMH-like group in Italy.” This is also reminiscent of FENDACE (not to be confused with GUCCIAGA), which was a partnership (not collaboration, mind you) of creative dialogues. Where VERSACE BY FENDI gave the latter’s FF motif the maximalist twist, FENDI BY VERSACE was more punk-rock aesthetic, pierced, and safety pin-adorned.

“Turning Versace around” however, noted, UBS analyst Susy Tibaldi, “could take several years. There is a lot to rebuild.” And deep-discounting, licensing, and forays into a wide (and at times, unwieldy) repertoire of offerings à la Capri Holdings’ other major player, Michael Kors, have diluted the face of Versace. “Now it’s a huge commercial beast that lacks the whole storytelling that made it Versace,” laments critic and content-creator Osama Chabbi, “No one really knows who’s that girl — or who’s that boy, either.”

Mrs. Prada really has her work cut out for her.

Versace in the Prada World

Of course, Versace isn’t Versace without its poster girl, and while Signora Versace has been absolved of her creative capacities, she still stays on as brand ambassador. But what can we expect of Versace now?

It’s important to note that she’s been succeeded by Dario Vitale, formerly of, well, Miu Miu, for over a decade. Vitale is also the mastermind credited with creating some of the most viral Miu Miu moments of recent history, from those balletcore ballet flats and scandalizing ultra-miniskirts to the bedazzled underpants and Birkin-esque bag charms, bringing Madame Miuccia’s transgressive visions to life on the runway.

“When Dario gave his resignation,” laughs CEO Andrea Guerra, “we tried to hold him where he was. It has been his own decision,” he said. “We had no consultancy role, we had no commissions, we had nothing. No, no it has been his total independent and very personal decision.” Fortuitously, it is a full-circle moment for Vitale too to find himself yet again under Mrs. Prada’s wing.

Madame Miuccia herself, however, plans to have little creative involvement. Or rather, in Prada Group CFO Andrea Bonini’s words, “Absolutely none. The involvement will be in the fact that she’s the biggest shareholder of the company, but nothing in terms of creativity.”

Only time – and the Milan Fashion Week this September – will tell what Vitale’s Miu-ified vision of Versace will look like. But while far from Prada and Miu Miu’s aesthetic profiles, Versace’s loud, logo-laden, heavy-handed glamour is likely to remain, only with a slight wink this time.

After all, Mrs. Prada herself said, “Ugly is attractive, ugly is exciting. Maybe because it is newer.” Maybe Vitale’s revitalized Versace will have us looking at its ugliness in an entirely new light.

“Because ugly,” in the designer’s words, “is human.”