When you see the same chiselled faces in the Versace menswear line-up it’s comforting because you know these are Donatella’s boys, nay, her Adonis’, and you are in for another stellar collection. Though she has been on some kind of puritanical mission recently to realign Versace with a more pared-down aesthetic, that’s right, shock horror – pared down, the clothing is still undeniably strong. This writer may miss the campier overtones, but the brand is still just as mad about the boy as it’s ever been.
Starting off with some colour palette of neutral nudes, Donatella wanted something a little more sensual and soft for AW and opted for more deconstruction, such as looser hoodies, still lined with mink of course, and even knitted cardigans. Whilst the bulk of this collection wasn’t tailored for the superhero stud, Donatella was still designing for the playboy in all of us, thus the leather was slick, the fur was silken and you bet the shoulders remained as strong and over-compensating as ever.
When you approach Versace with the intention of negotiating with your boyhood and their overtly manly glam appeal, you know what you are in for, which begs the question; why should Versace repress the testosterone max formula that hasn’t ever really done them too wrong? For now though, the Versace ideal isn’t going anywhere fast. Let’s just keep it that way until we find an equally attractive solution.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com