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Versace: Donatella's In a Party Mood
By Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Jan 15, 2003 /FWD/ --- Let's hear it for Donatella Versace for providing the fashion
folk here with something they haven't enjoyed in a while - a celebration.
And double thanks to her for inviting along Sharon Stone, the best living example of that
endangered species called "screen goddess."
While celebrities are a given at any Versace show, most of them approach their front row
seats via the aisle like the rest of us.
Not our Sharon, who strode out like a model from backstage just minutes before the show began.
Then again, catwalking comes easy to Stone, a former model.
A swarm of photographers circled the star as she waved grandly, provoking a burst of
applause from the packed crowd in the courtyard of the Versace Palazzo on via Del Gesu,
and banishing at least briefly the memory of a disastrous Christmas at retail for the
fashion business.
"The truth is, I like sexy clothes. That's why I love Versace," Stone explained, sipping
a flute of Cristal at the after-show party upstairs amidst the Renaissance oil paintings
and classical statuary in the Versace reception rooms.
There was plenty of sexiness to enjoy in this fall/winter 2003 collection that began
with the house's sportswear line, Versus, and ended with its top ready-to-wear collection
Versace.
Though this was a men's collection, Donatella had ubermodels Eva Herzigova and Fernanda
Taveres on the runway to vamp up the volume.
The sense of excitement was further heightened by a rather wonderful montage of rock
concert imagery, shown on two huge screens, in front of which DJ Armand von Helden waxed
the stacks with masterly glee.
For fall, Versus seemed perfect for a well-heeled college grad who just landed a big fat
job and really wants to enjoy his Saturday night on the town.
Varsity jackets came emblazoned with the signature Medusa and words like "Subversion" and
"DeVille," a reference to Donatella digging the initials DV, tattooed the wares.
The clothes with dude-style hoods, posh cargo pants and quilted leather vests seemed
ideal for rappers who clamor for Versus, or the soccer greats who sat beside Stone, like
dreadlocked Dutchman Edgar Davids and Japanese clotheshorse Hidetoshi Nakata.
The top Versace line underlined an element in the label's tradition that has been a mite
forgotten of late - damn good tailoring.
A finale of top snug coats with Lurex finish boots looked great on the guys, and the
sultry lace handkerchief dresses on the gals would have looked smoldering on Stone,
herself attired in jeans and a mini mink coat, her blonde hair shorn and spiky.
"Versus is all about young, strong and clean. Versace should be more sophisticated,
yet a little messed up," said Donatella, who explained that her three favorite male
icons at present are David Beckham, Johnny Depp and Jack Nicholson.
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