July 15 marked the 20th anniversary of Gianni Versace’s death, and the label’s Spring/Summer 2018 show was a moving homage to the late designer.
“This is the celebration of a genius, this is the celebration of an icon, this is the celebration of my brother,” said the runway show’s voiceover. “Imagine a world without his risk-taking, his innovative genius, and above all his allegiance to women.”
Most of the show took great inspiration from the Versace vault, with ’90s silhouettes and plenty of the label’s quintessential baroque prints. From near-copies of looks like Versace’s pop-art body con dresses and monochrome outfits, the show felt like it was ripped straight from 1991. “The silhouettes are all new because the shapes from those days look dated today,” Donatella Versace told the Guardian about the collection. “Except the leggings. Everyone loves the leggings again. The models like Gigi and Bella [Hadid] are always asking me where they can get the nineties Versace leggings.”
But the most time-bending moment might have been the runway show’s finale. After all the models of the show came out for their final walk, the lights went low and a curtain pulled back to reveal: Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Helena Christiansen in gold gowns.
Then they walked down the runway to, what else? George Michael’s “Freedom ’90.” And while there were a few missing faces (Christy Turlington and Linda Evangelista, both of whom have largely retired from modeling) the moment still felt like a perfect throwback to Gianni’s era and the age of the 1990s Supers.