A new monogram for a new age. Versace’s Fall 2021 collection which has brought about the return of the supermodels, colour, and glamour might just have clinched the spot as the must-see fashion event of the digital Fall 2021 season.
After a hugely successful Spring 2021 under-water medusa-inspired collection, it was unclear what Versace could do to top their game – so Versace reinvented. If you aren’t aware that Versace has launched a new monogram design, then you haven’t watched the runway. Emblazoned on just about everything; suit linings, purses, shoes, hair – you name it – the new monogram is named La Greca, which is a modern twist on Versace’s own Greek key pattern, but with a trompe l’oeil clutch. If the monogram-filled clothing wasn’t enough for the new design to really hit home with Versace’s audiences, the entire digital runway took place inside of a fully enlarged La Greca structure.
Flashing between the powerful strutting shots of the models, the intimate close-up shots, and distance shots of vignettes depicting the ‘characters’ own storylines, Versace really made their audience yearn for a post-vaccine, clubbing and glamour enthused life.
Of the collection, Donatella spoke; “Despite living in a digital era of immediacy, taking time is crucial to form a genuine connection. This is what the present and future look like to me.”
It’s certainly what we’d like our present and future to look like too. With a seamless blend of lockdown looks to glamorous club-ready outfits, the mixing of supermodels such as Mona Tougaard, Precious Lee, Gigi and Bella Hadid, and Irina Shayk, with bold liners, headscarves and platform matte metallic shoes was the perfect recipe for stirring up excitement about a post-June life, as well as the Versace collection.
Reduced shots, dimmed lights, silhouettes, and obvious beat changes marked the entrance of each new style of clothing in the maze runway. In a power move, Gigi Hadid made her return to the runway since the birth of her baby Khai and began the show in a plunge black corset top, monogram lined overcoat accessorised with a red obviously monogrammed bag and gloves complete with chunky platform heel boots.
The collection shifted from brown and black monogram fall coats, business-chic bags, suits and boots to brightly coloured monochrome club-ready outfits, excitingly debuted by Bella Hadid. From a sea of silhouettes, the music accompanying the former transitioned into a pulsating club-type-beat to match the latter. Revisiting the Versace Fall 1991 collection ten years later, a modern twist was placed on the brightly coloured pink, yellow and red colour-block looks. The ‘91 thigh-high boots were replaced with monogrammed tights and platform metallic matte heels, but the looks kept a similar silhouette. From left (Bella Hadid) to right, the three outfits almost appear to be representing the transition from the ‘91 to the most modern ‘21 silhouette, a fitting tribute embedded in the collection that births the new monogram.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Versace
If the collection hadn’t already supplanted lockdown with dreams of vibrant nightlife in a post-pandemic world for the audience, Versace unleashed a chain-link (yes, monogrammed) dress on Bella Hadid to ensure it had by minute eight. Reinforcements in the form of a golden mini dress wearing Mona Tougaard appeared, pushing glamour to the forefront of our screens.
Versace covered the post-lockdown wardrobe all the way down to the LBD. Gigi Hadid, Irina Shayk, and Precious Lee peer around corners in floor-sweeping extravagant black dresses, lightly embellished with Versace monograms. The mesh, tulle, and embellished black wardrobe swept across the screens in the form of dresses and suits, not leaving behind the classic gold chunky jewellery long associated with Versace.
Bold eyeliner was splashed across the faces of supermodels in bright neon colours, which complemented the silk headscarf which appeared so consistently. In short, Versace didn’t miss a beat in infusing all aspects of the show with glamorous hope. Leaving audiences unsure if they want to adorn a headscarf, paint brightly coloured eyeliner, or practice strutting in platform boots first, the Versace show captured something exciting. As the camera glanced over the maze, the vignettes of the models appeared to us like insights into the bathroom stalls of the glitziest post-lockdown it-party (and obviously, you need a monogrammed Versace headscarf to get in).
Monogrammed and monochrome, the Versace Fall 2021 collection was a sharp, poised party, inviting audiences to take a look into the (exciting) future. As soft orchestral music played and the camera panned to a long-range shot of Donatella stood front and centre of the maze atop her models, she stood proudly over a collection that promised what the approaching months may hold, and it looked sensational.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Versace
Words by Megan Selway
