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Viva Versace: Donatella's Shining Moment
By Godfrey Deeny
Photos by: Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Mar 7, 2002/ FWD/ --- There was an edgy, high-octane, thundering fashion moment in
the Versace show Tuesday night - and that was just the first 30 seconds.
The remainder of the show was even better.
Even before the first model hit the catwalk, there was a vibrant buzz in the courtyard of
Versace's huge Milan palazzo.
Pandemonium broke out when a newly blond Chelsea Clinton appeared, her hair straightened,
her lips glistening with gloss.
Chelsea took her seat between Rhodes scholar boyfriend Ian Klaus and Destiny's Child, sans
Beyoncé Knowles.
On her boyfriend's left was a stunningly sexy Heather Graham, her naturally blond hair as
curly as a Restoration moll's.
Then the lights went down, the Junior Vasquez mix blasted out of the speakers, and the fun
began.
Before a brilliantly put together video fantasy played on a series of huge LED screens,
Donatella opened her show with Amber Valetta in a multicolored dress evocative of a
particularly transcendental, acid-fueled dream.
As she hit the top of the runway, the screens began to explode in a flower-power fury.
Throughout the show, each color choice and print was answered and imitated on the huge screen
in a tour de force by set director Sergio Salerni.
The catwalk burst with color: Natalia Semenova in a curvy tangerine suit with green piping;
Fernanda Tavares in a pink skirt and lilac push-up top that playfully exposed the stunner's
assets as she strutted her stuff.
From the streaky mink coats to the high heels in woven silver leather with tassels, this was
hip, high-octane glamour.
The finale featured a flurry of wafer thin columns in appliqué chiffon, slashed high up the
thigh and revealing plenty of flesh.
Think Grecian goddess on a roll in Las Vegas.
"It was the best collection she's done since she's been in charge at the house. I've never
seen image, sound and clothes click together so well,” enthused Kal Ruttenstein,
Bloomingdales's famed fashion director.
"The suits were sharp, and the dresses were fluid and sensuous. The colors were bright,
and in a season of black we needed that."
And all we can say is: Thank you.
Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace
Gianni Versace
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