Versace
MILAN, March 4, 2003
By
Donatella Versace's strong suit is just that: her slim, mean tailoring for the rock-star wife who has graduated to a more sophisticated phase of her life. She's moved beyond road trips and hanging around backstage; now she lives uptown and drops the kids off at school in the limo, on her way to a day of lunch and shopping.Maybe she’s settling down, but she still wants her style with some attitude. Versace knows how to do that. She loves a wild Western fringe or a big, mad dyed fur, but she can also take care of the more quotidian needs of the rock and celebrity aristocracy. She cuts a fine beige pantsuit, a white pencil skirt and a belted caramel coat with distinction, and throws in an oversize squashy ostrich bag as an enough-said status accessory. About-town daywear can also include an amped-up couture-detailed biker jacket, maybe in pink leather or black satin, with patches of ribbing and crisscross lacing on the sleeve and up the back.
At night, of course, there's bound to be a red carpet or two. Versace's solutions came in multiple variations of the knockout corset dress. In strong color, like absinthe or red, or more muted ivory and lingerie pink, they were boned and fitted like a second skin, trailing cascades of chiffon in the skirts. Still, even her dresses couldn't distract from the impact of another idea: a definitive tux, lean in the jacket and with the skinniest possible pants. It's the kind of simple, powerful statement that separates the women from the girls.
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