Donatella Versace on What Luxury Means For Fall/Winter 2023 Collection
Inspired by a previous collection, Donatella Versace brings her newest co-ed Fall/Winter 2023 show to the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.
"With this collection, I put myself to the test. It felt like a challenge. In Milan, I’m at home. Showing in Los Angeles was getting out of my comfort zone. When I create a collection, I want to feel insecure... Maybe I’m crazy, but this is the questioning that helps me grow and improve.” Donatella Versace traveled to the City of Angels to present Versace’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection in a co-ed show which commences a new chapter in the history of the house. The show, scheduled just days before the Oscars and staged on the terrace of the Pacific Design Center on Melrose Avenue, presents a new Versace.
"I wanted luxury after all of the streetwear from the past few years. I worked to enhance the foundations of the Maison Versace, of Gianni’s work. I started with a collection from 1995, and I found a renewed desire towards tailoring, architecture, shapes, and cuts.” The aesthetic language of the collection uncovers a certain Hollywood glamour of the great divas of the past. (Simultaneously with the show, the fashion house has set up a small exhibition in Beverly Hills that showcases Versace’s relationship with the world of celebrities. The showcase will exemplify some of the most iconic Atelier Versace pieces that, over the years, have trod the international red carpets.) But Thursday evening’s catwalk announces a fascinating contemporaneity that has its roots in a specific notion of elegance—classically couture with a touch of sensuality, à la Versace. For instance, the show’s mood board featured iconic images of leather and bondage clothing which exalted Versace to a global name.
Ahead of the show, Versace spoke to L'OFFICIEL about the choice to show in Los Angeles, her definition of luxury, and her favorite celebrities at the moment.
L'OFFICIEL: How did the idea of having a show in Los Angeles come about?
DONATELLA VERSACE: This season I wanted a change. Although I love Milan, which has made great strides as a metropolis and as a fashion city with a global resonance, I wanted to experience a different environment. Also, I yearned to do something outdoors with a more direct, strong contact with nature. I felt the need to create a uniquely special experience. That’s why I thought of Los Angeles—a city that I both love and am deeply attached to.
L’O: What does this city mean to you?
DV: I go to LA a lot. I love the two stories it tells. The most glamorous one: one of cinema and celebrities. But also one of nature—of the boys who play sports on the beach. Healthy, beautiful, athletic. I like the idea of a city populated by people who care, externally and internally, at the level of spirit. It’s a city that combines, better than any other, its metropolitan soul and its natural soul. It’s a city that lives on juxtaposition: total relaxation on the one hand, and extreme worldliness on the other. And nowhere like Los Angeles do these two opposites live together.
L’O: In tandem with the show, you also launched a scholarship program dedicated to fashion students from the LGTBQ+ community, supported by the Versace Foundation and the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
DV: Yes, it is an initiative in which I believe wholeheartedly. It’s been a true honor to visit the LGBT Center in Los Angeles, to officially launch this mentorship program set up with the CFDA, to support young students from the LGBTQ+ community, along with interacting with them directly. It’s very important to me to have the ability to witness the incredible work of this organization firsthand. The support that this community provides to people in need is invaluable, and I am so ecstatic to offer my contribution to help them in the extremely imperative work they do.
L’O: How much of Donatella Versace exists in the City of Angels?
DV: I often come here for vacation because I am so tied to this city. It speaks to me in such a deep way. Private, intimate, and healthy remoteness. There is a mundane face to the city, one that is illuminated by the spotlight. But then it is also a generous city. It inspires. The underground creative uprising allows for innovative views on art, sculpture, and literature. Los Angeles is an open-air factory, a meeting place for newness... or at least experiencing it. Los Angeles is a laboratory where you are welcomed to write the future.
L’O: Does this idea of experimentation also appear in the new collection? How was the creative process that led you to the garments on the catwalk?
DV: I started with a word: elegance. Especially with the context that this show takes place a few days before the Oscars. I am reminded of the iconic elegant actresses from the big screen. They had a relatively private personal life, but when they walked the red carpet, they were ready to embody a breathtaking charm, an incredible chicness. I always imagined this to be the real glamour of L.A. During my creative journey with this collection, I looked back to one of Gianni’s collections from 1995. We did a photo shoot with Richard Avedon, Kristen McMenamy, and Nadja Auermann in Los Angeles. I wanted to embody this in the need for something more structured, more tailored, more dressy for this season.
L’O: So this season is a bit of a farewell to the streetwear universe and to embrace an idea of classic elegance?
DV: Yes, you need to go back to tailoring and think a little less streetwear. I wanted true glamour, the inconspicuous, the one that is not only made of sequins and glitter. I wanted to really dress the woman, giving her a silhouette full of charm. And for men’s looks, I moved in this same direction.
L’O: Your manifesto seems to be based on a return to the essence of tailoring...
DV: Yes, you have to hone in on a new concept around tailoring. We have to take into account what young women want as well. The essence of fashion is a jacket, a dress, cut to perfection to enhance the body. Eliminating those "aesthetic" frills that come from styling. I’ve done it before, but this season I was really focused on the architecture of the dress.
L’O: And on a return to luxury...
DV: The word luxury has been abused in the past. Luxury has a precise meaning, especially in the world of fashion. And Versace is a luxury house. Simplicity. I think this is what represents true luxury today: an opulent, unique fabric with a perfect cut. This season I wanted luxury. No embroidery, no superstructures, no tinsel. But architecture. Cuts and structure. If I had to encompass this season and my future work for the Maison in a word, I would say that it is the essence of luxury.
L’O: If you had to choose a garment and a color to represent your idea of elegance today, what would you choose?
DV: Black, first of all, as a symbolic color. A little black dress for the garment: a timeless piece that even Gianni reread, rethought, recreated several times. Everyone wants a perfect little black dress in their closet that makes them feel beautiful. This is the real luxury of today. Not necessarily couture, but a return to the roots of this Maison. Real luxury for me is in the perfection of a silhouette, in the construction of a dress.
L’O: You have often mentioned the archive and the history of the Maison as inspiration for this season... How do you interact with the history of Versace?
DV: I don’t need to go to the archive to remember the story of Versace: it’s all in my head. I prefer my memory to reality. I didn’t even take out older garments when I started designing for this season. I preferred that the dressmakers and the creative team of the Atelier reread the past with their eyes and thoughts of today. I like living in the present and discovering the future with the eyes of a curious child.
L’O: Throughout your creative journey you have outlined an image of a specific woman. And this is the new start of an articulated and evolving mosaic. How would you define the Versace woman today?
DV: Luxury, in a word. She’s a luxurious woman. She wears an architectural wardrobe, made of beautiful cuts and fabrics. Perfection. A perfect dress is the best gift you can give a woman. When a woman feels beautiful, confident, strong wearing a dress, that’s the best gift she can receive. This means I did my job well. The Versace woman today, huh? There is not just one, and she is never the same woman. One day she could be Dua Lipa, and the next day she could be a sophisticated lady who loves to wear powerful femininity. Choosing Versace gives you a little dream, of luxury, perfection, strength. There really isn’t a single Versace woman... If there was only one Versace woman, I would be angry. And the same goes for the Versace man. I don’t like to talk about a Versace man or a woman, but a community.
L’O: In all your years of career, have you ever felt like you "made it"?
DV: The most beautiful moment is that which has not yet been experienced! I don’t think about the past. I’ve always been excited about the future, about what has yet to come. Anyway, even today I don’t feel like I’ve “made it.” I don’t think that’s ever going to happen, fortunately. I have many things to say, many ideas, and even many more projects. One life will not be enough to realize them all. Or maybe it will be, we’ll see...
L’O: Was there a special moment or a particular person that helped you grow?
DV: I was very lucky. I met wonderful artists and lived moments that I never could have imagined. I have many very talented friends. Seeing them immersed in work or simply conversing with them is a source of inspiration and continuous growth.
L’O: What is your relationship with celebrities today, considering you’ve been lucky enough to work with some of the biggest stars?
DV: It’s a very personal, intimate relationship. If I don’t know a celebrity, then I can’t work with them. I can’t picture how to dress them. The best work with a star comes from mutual exchanges. With Dua Lipa, for example, we are friends. This helps me understand how to design for her. With our celebrities, I try to have a special bond. I listen to their words, their emotions, their fears. They have to go on stage in front of the world, and what they wear can become an aid to give them more security, give them a little superpower.
L’O: Who do you like about celebrities today? Is there someone who won you over?
DV: It is very difficult to choose just one... Right now, maybe Doja Cat. I like her. She’s a person who never stops thinking, daring, pushing boundaries, experimenting. She’s an exceptional girl, very smart, and has an incredible sense of fashion. But what I love about her most is her ability to transform into a dress. She’s a daring woman, similar to Madonna in the early years of her work. I love it. She’s one of the most intuitive and creative women out there right now.
L’O: What is your dream for Versace?
DV: I wish they would let me do what I did in this collection. [Laughs.] Joking aside, I want to be able to understand what Versace is. How, even today, it is so unique in the global landscape. It’s a real luxury. I want to make sure that this Maison remains relevant not only in fashion but in the global cultural conversation.
