The Versace show began on a triumphal note as a giant screen inside the venue relayed Italy s last-minute victory over Australia in the World Cup knockout round. When the clothes finally took to the catwalk, it was as if Donatella had anticipated her countrymen s sigh of relief. With its relaxed slouchiness and crumpled sensuality, her latest collection suggested that the designer has found a way to ease the pressure she s been under for years. Gone was the he-man structure that has long typified the house s Adonises. "No more eighties," said Donatella after the show. "Now I prefer mind over muscle."
At first glance, the new Versace man certainly came across as less hard-bodied than usual, so at ease was he in his deconstructed jacket, baggy, hip-slung trousers, tie at half-mast, and sandals. But appearances can deceive, because, in their own way, these clothes were as body-conscious as any Versace has presented in the past. As loose as the jackets seemed, they emphasized a broad, athletic shoulder. Short-sleeved shirts featured deep, chest-baring V necklines. Fine-gauge T-shirts offered their own definition.
The softness of the fabrics—silks, glazed linens, washed leathers—and the sun-bleached color scheme underscored the laid-back new mood. For all of that, though, there was still an undercurrent of old-school Versace glamour, visible in an inky linen parka and pants, for instance, or a silvery shawl-collared tux, also in linen, or an evening ensemble in anthracite silk.
