VERSACE SS26

Growing up in Los Angeles, I learned to spot Versace from a block away: hot color, gold that glints even in the shade, baroque prints that never ask permission. At home, a few pieces floated through our closets — printed shirts, scarf knots on a handle, a dress my mother treated like a happy photograph. I was always split about it. Sometimes it felt like too much. Other times it was miraculously feminine and precise. Now the landscape in Milan has shifted: new ownership, and Vitale stepping in for his first show.

What I saw felt like a controlled dive into the archive: chains, Greek keys, scarf prints, little flashes of armor; not erased, just turned down a notch. The baroque isn’t gone — it’s edited. Cuts track the body with a softer hand, proportions are cleaner, surfaces less busy. It’s like someone put a soft filter over Versace’s memory, kept the symbols, and removed the noise.

Color was handled with intention: yes to the icons — black, gold, red — but with pauses, space for the eye to breathe. Accessories do the sparkling; the clothes carry the story with that straight-shot sensuality Milan still does best when it wants to. There were moments when I saw the Versace I love most, the one that doesn’t need to shout to be powerful.

I don’t know if this new phase will seduce people who only come for shock value. From here, I read a choice: respect the icon but ask for restraint. It’s a tough balance, but it feels like the right move if the goal is to reignite desire without tipping into caricature. With Vitale, Versace is talking to a woman who wants strength and light, and demands control. When the light is measured this well, it doesn’t blind you. It follows you.

GALLERY