The foreshore of the French Riviera dazzled as the backdrop to Italian fashion House Versace's Pre Fall 2023 collection La Vacanza this week, a collection designed in close collaboration with British pop darling Dua Lipa. On the heels of this week's Festival de Cannes, the runway show was yet another fashionable presentation. Guests sat poolside, as models like Iris Law, Vittoria Ceretti, Lila Moss and Amelia Gray swaggered down a runway that was suspended over an infinity-edge pool.
The collection was a welcome return to the House's early 90s and 2000s styles, with several pieces in the collection quite directly referencing and playing off of archival pieces from that era of the House's history. A glittering silvery skirt with butterfly appliqués harkened back to a dress worn by Naomi Campbell in 1999, and co-designer Dua Lipa herself was sporting a black cut-out gown that closely referenced a look worn by Claudia Schiffer from Versace Fall 1992. Butterflies were a consistent motif across the runway, applied to skirts and strappy heels, and enmeshed amongst polka dots as part of the collection's signature print.
But amongst all of this, there remained a distinct 80s flair – power suits and pencil skirts, metallics and garish-printed co-ords – styled with aviators and big, glamazon hair. Nonetheless, in referencing the past, the collection felt far from dated, instead coming across as wholly fresh – and an imaginative coalescence of Versace's House codes and Dua Lipa's personal style.
It also wouldn't be a complete (nor authentic) vacation collection without some terry towelling robes thrown in.
Take a look at some of the hot-off-the-runway looks, direct from the French Riviera, below.
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