Milan was never going to whisper about Dario Vitale’s debut. On Friday night, during Fashion Week, Versace staged what it called an “intimate event” inside the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, though the screaming fans outside waving balloons in Chinese pop-star colours suggested otherwise.
Inside the 17th-century palazzo, Vitale introduced himself with a full-throttle embrace of Versace’s most primal codes: sexuality, mythology, and Italian audacity with a Miami vibe – snug denim, open-sided T-shirts, and dresses that seemed on the verge of falling away in bursts of colour. But it wasn’t just skin. We were given Miami heat: 80s pastel tailoring, high-waisted pleated pants, exaggerated shoulders and leather fanny packs straight off South Beach. There were echoes of Miami Vice, but filtered through 1991 Versace Jeans couture campaigns and the pastel-leather mashups of 1992.
What made it sing was the styling: a sweater knotted at the waist over leather shorts, a studded bra top layered beneath a necklace that crowned the whole look. That mix gave the collection its life. It felt joyful, full of energy Versace had been missing in recent seasons. Suddenly, the house wasn’t weighed down by endless Medusas and Roman motifs; instead, it embraced the nostalgia we’re craving but pushed it forward with a modern edge.
Vitale balanced desirability and wearability: yes, the spectacle was pure Versace, but there were pieces you could pull apart – leather trousers paired with suiting jackets, beaded western vests on pastel denim – that will walk straight off the runway and into wardrobes. Even the shoes hit differently: the return of the Court Pump, its shorter, thicker heel adding an edge of power dressing. Styled with a beaded dress, the effect was both 80s glamour and very Princess Diana.
Vitale is only the third person to hold this role, after Gianni and Donatella Versace. That weight could have been daunting, but the 41-year-old seemed unfazed, even relaxed. Backstage he spoke of returning not to the archives for silhouettes, but for spirit. “What is sexy? We will never get enough,” he said. “It’s not just about the moment, it’s about the smell, the touch, the memory of the next day.”
The venue reflected this intimacy. Noble rooms left deliberately disordered, a dog bed here, unpolished silver there, Vitale’s own sheets on an unmade bed, spoke of desire’s aftermath rather than its performance. Even the invitation, a love letter quoting Keats, placed the evening less in the realm of fashion logistics and more in one of human connection.
Yet Vitale’s debut is only part of a larger narrative. Alongside the show, the house unveiled Versace Embodied, a multi-chapter cultural project gathering artists, poets, and visionaries in dialogue with Versace’s essence. Camille Vivier photographed the Medusa door at Via Gesù; Andrea Modica traced Versace’s Mediterranean heritage through youth in Southern Italy; Eileen Myles responded with poetry; Binx Walton was captured in motion by Stef Mitchell. It is not a campaign, but a conversation, heritage refracted through multiple lenses, each as restless and uncompromising as the house itself.
Celebrity guests – Romeo Beckham, Hyunjin, Lily McInerny, Chinese stars Ding Yuxi and Jingyi Ju – added glamour, but it was Vitale’s unapologetic plunge into Versace’s mythology that dominated the night. The Medusa has always symbolized danger and seduction; in Vitale’s hands, she feels reborn, daring us once again not to look away.
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