Here are nine words no one ever thought they’d hear Donatella Versace utter: “A little bit of imperfection is the new perfection.” Speaking at a press conference before the Versace presentation, Donatella said she’d been thinking about how we live today on our screens—Instagram in particular—and how we’re all obsessed with perfection. She’s troubled by it, and that led her to grunge, the 1990s music genre associated with thrashing guitars and shredded flannel shirts.
There was strategic thinking to Donatella’s hop in this way-back machine. The Versace label has been acquired by Capri Holdings Limited, and her new parent company has set its sights on growth. That means attracting new customers—younger customers who, as it happens, are really feeling the 1990s. Marc Jacobs recently reissued his 1993 grunge collection for Perry Ellis, and Anna Sui also put her Spring ’93 collection back out. Gianni Versace never really addressed grunge the way those designers did. But Donatella has always been in love with music, so this wasn’t as unlikely a fit as it sounds.
DV grunge, to be sure, is a long way off from Seattle grunge. These moth holes weren’t made by moths, let’s just say. Also, Donatella loaded her looks with such familiar Versace staples as oversize safety pins and bondage harnesses. And let’s be real, these were not thrift store clothes, which is what Kurt Cobain, whose signature keening mixed with techno on the soundtrack, was wearing when he and Nirvana recorded Nevermind. These were luxury clothes, with luxury prices, but certain outfits believably channeled the grunge spirit, among them the V-print minidress over a ribbed-knit sweater and lace tights; the kinder-whore combo of a bondage harness and schoolgirl tweeds; and the black slip worn with a white tee printed with a 1995 Richard Avedon shot of a glamorous Donatella, who was the face of the Versace fragrance Blonde. The T-shirts were a collaboration with the Richard Avedon Foundation.
Donatella is über-glam in that Avedon photo, with eyes painted black and her blonde mane flying. That’s how we love her, and that’s why the pieces that resonated most strongly here were the ones made in her glamorous image. Adut Akech’s bronze crystal column with a blue and red slip peeking out was just about perfect.