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Versace sprints in stilettos for a game-changing era. Spring/Summer 2026, under new Chief Creative Officer Dario Vitale, the first-ever non-Versace personality appointed after the founder Gianni Versace and sister Donatella Versace themselves, flirts with the house’s iconic excess while reconfiguring it for today. Nearly three decades of maximalist glamour, red-carpet audacity, and Medusa-fueled theatrics collide with modernity: outrageous, sensually mischievous, and instinctively alive. Desire, curiosity, and the occasional surprise drive Vitale’s first collection from start to finish.
His first runway shows a house in conversation with its attractive yet otherwise gaudy past, yet unafraid to switch it up. Shirts take center stage, stripped of pretense, tucked high into trousers, belted with clipped chains, or reimagined with open buttons.
Layering dominates, echoing Vitale’s own sartorial rules from youth: T-shirt, shirt, jumper. These are presented like a tool for sensuality, texture, and energy. Caramel leather jackets over blue shirts, layered over sporty tees, hint at both streetwear savvy and the depth of intention, showing that everyday fundamentals can feel charged alive when framed through Versace’s lens.
Color, pattern, and an ’80s irreverence inject irrepressible energy, such as striped trousers, gaping vest tops, and shimmery gowns. Versace’s signature symbols—Medusa motifs, sparkly checkerboards—appear intermittently, nodding to the brand’s mythic DNA.
If you get it, you get it, and Vitale gets Versace—but why the chatter and backlash? In reality, his debut struck a near-perfect balance between sexy and sensual. While Versace’s signature sexiness naturally inspires him, he’s equally drawn to human connection. Amid slouchy tailoring and 90s-inspired denim, dresses appeared with backs left undone, as if undone in a fleeting moment of intention—imbuing the collection with smoldering eroticism.
The creative director handles sexiness like a full-frontal truth serum with silhouettes that flirt like they know it’s being watched. A thrift-shop edge and streetwise swagger keep the glamour grounded, making the collection feel electric—maximalist, now running on espresso and attitude somewhere on a beach boardwalk.
Photos: VERSACE
