Atelier Versace (Q3779)
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Atelier Versace is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Atelier Versace |
Atelier Versace is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
president of U.S. retail for Versace
1994
head designer
Editor’s note: Vogue Runway is celebrating the most wonderful time of the year by adding six magical—and newly digitized—1990s haute couture shows to our archive. Atelier Versace’s spring 1996 collection was originally presented on January 20, 1996, at the Hotel Ritz in Paris.Graphic havoc and glamour collided in Gianni Versace’s spring 1996 couture collection. Animal prints was a major story, as were dichotomies. The designer, in whose work the Catholic imagination was alive and well, always played “good” girls off “bad” ones. In addition to exploring unexpected color and pattern combinations, he used unexpected material mashups, pairing leather and lace, for example, and contrasting sheers and opaques, and applying print head to toe—even to his signature metal mesh.Versace came of age in the 1960s, and many of his designs for daytime, like cookie-cutter suits and swingy little jackets, reference the ladylike and streamlined shapes of the early years of that decade, saving decadence for his after-dark looks. Some, like the leather dress with sheer insets, were surprisingly delicate, with a sprinkling of beads as tiny and sparkling as caviar roe.Sheath dresses were updated with curved seams that framed necklines and backs, and slip dresses in animal prints had real bite. The lushest looks, worn by Kirsty Hume and Shalom Harlow, paired printed leotards with straight-front skirts that were gathered at the back into decadent, trailing folds.Bryan Ferry at Atelier Versace.Photo: Dave Benett / Getty ImagesJon Bon Jovi and Dorothea Hurley at Atelier Versace.Photo: Dave Benett / Getty ImagesSting and Trudie Styler at Atelier Versace.Photo: Stephane Cardinale / Corbis / Sygma via Getty ImagesThis confident collection was presented at the Ritz Paris, where models walked on a runway constructed over the hotel’s swimming pool and in front of an audience of assorted glitterati and rock stars including Sting, Brian Ferry, and Jon Bon Jovi, whom the designer had just signed to star in an advertising campaign.Beyond the front row, the show brought rock and royalty together in unexpected ways. The coat-wearing Queen Mother was referenced in the soundtrack, whichVogue’s Hamish Bowles reported was “a mini Versace operetta that Elton John had composed for the designer in two days flat.” It contained “the immortal line, ‘Some people are born royal. Others become queens on their own.
’” That being said, it would take a king’s ransom to secure a piece from this collection; a chain-mail top not unlike the one modeled by Harlow is currently available on1stDibsfor a cool $32,000.
21 December 2021
Chances are high that pieces from Gianni Versace’s last show will be included in the Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibition,“Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”The designer included cross-embellished pieces in the lineup, and there were also beautifully draped looks, some in metal mesh that recalled medieval sculptures or religious mosaics.It’s a tradition that couture shows close with a bride. Here, Naomi Campbell was given the role and a mini rhinestone-studded mesh gown to wear “down the aisle.” Within the context of the theme,Versacewas cast as a chivalrous warrior, upholding the age-old craft of the couture and championing a vision of fashion that was brash, beautiful, and unapologetic. About a year before presenting this collection, when asked what his contribution to fashion was, Versace answered “an attitude of freedom. But I feel I have a long way to go.” No one could have imagined his path would have been cut so violently short. Versace was murdered in Miami about a week after this Paris show.
6 July 1997
Three little words you never have and never will associate with Donatella Versace and the house of Versace:Less is more.But here we are on a relatively sleepy Eighth Arrondissement Sunday, in a first-floor salon of the Versace store on the Avenue Montaigne—an intersecting arrangement of relatively small and anonymous rooms—viewing the 19 looks that comprise La Versace’s haute couture collection for this coming fall. Well, this coming fall might not be the best phrase to use here, since it makes them sound readily available. Basically, when you next see these clothes, they’ll be on red carpets the world over, though many are equally likely never going to appear anywhere near a camera, not even one on an iPhone, all primed for a selfie. The format chosen to present this collection focused on privacy and discretion—remember, this is a label that used to regularly and rather fabulously show at the Ritz in days gone by on a runwayover the hotel’s swimming pool—which is why there were, apparently, a couple of looks that weren’t even shown to the press but which will be seen only by those women who actually order from the house.Yet if under-the-radar was the order of the day for how Donatella chose to show her couture, it wasn’t evident from the collection itself. The starting point for it was her very medieval Fall 1998 collection—and the terrific accompanying campaign shot by Steven Meisel, a brooding dark masterpiece which out-GOTsGOTand starred the likes of Carolyn Murphy, Audrey Marnay, Maggie Rizer, and—remember her?—Sunniva Stordahl. Versace’s update resulted in major,majorevening—a bravura performance of high-octane, super-sexy, and exquisitely and inventively worked looks, all bronze metallic scale embroideries, silver chains suspended in cobweb-like formations, and an embellishment that looked like crystal but which was actually beads faced with silver leaf. Eschewing the big production presentation afforded a chance to see the (rather incredible) handwork techniques close up. Not that everything was entirely handcrafted. A few pieces featured the first time the house had tried 3-D printing—an intricate scrolling neckline of a long gilded dress, and two snake-motif jeweled belts that encircled the waists of two dresses, one short and a miracle of sculpted pleats, the other an ultra-chic navy chiffon floor-length dress veiling a gleaming chain-mail body. Less is more but—this is Versace after all—more is more, too.
2 July 2017
After various seasons as the opening Sunday night act of the haute couture,Donatella Versacedecided to go back to basics. Oh, don’t get me wrong—the new collection was as knock ’em dead and deliciously OTT as ever, rendered to a high level of inventive workmanship, of which more later. But rather than do one of her epically cast extravaganzas—the kind of shows where Gigi Hadid follows Karen Elson, who follows Natasha Poly, who follows Marjan Jonkman, who follows Naomi Campbell, who follows Raquel Zimmermann, before we finally get back to Hadid again—Donatella opted to present 17 looks on theatrically spotlighted mannequins on the second floor of her Avenue Montaigne boutique. Also, she herself was missing in action, or, at least, in Europe; she was elsewhere, presumably Milan.Now, there are two schools of thought on this, which aren’t mutually exclusive. For one, it’s not hard to imagine that by withholding a runway show a few weeks before the red carpet show we call theAcademy Awards, it allows greater opportunities to get these (relatively unseen) couture confections on A-list actresses, particularly this season, where it was all major,majorevening and nothing for the hours of daylight at all. (Let’s forget for a minute the inconvenient fact that the Oscars begin in the bright afternoon sunshine of Los Angeles, but you get my point.) On the other hand, and this is a more controversial topic to broach, the incessant rumor mill around the arrival of a Very Famous Designer from another Very Famous House to aid and abet Versace has been going into overdrive of late. As of now, it’s only that, gossip, and it could be that’s all it ever will be. But who’d want to go through the rigmarole of having to talk about it to inquisitive journalists? You couldn’t blame Donatella for staying home.But back to the main event: The collection. The idea this season was metamorphosis, what the house is calling “the beauty of transformation.” To put it more explicitly: By working with a relatively restrained metallic color palette of pink, gray, and a darkened silver, Donatella threw the work of her ateliers into ever greater focus, drawing on four themes—knots, pleats, organic, and metal. They utilized 10-and-counting knotting techniques for a slithery, shimmering goddess dress. One hundred and ten meters of Swarovski crystals were spun around the hooped underskirt of a fan-pleated ball gown, the stones gleaming from beneath their soft veil.
Crystal snakeskin “scales” morphed into feathers on another dress. And the ateliers did a ton of work with chain mail, a material that others use but rarely if ever match this label in the perfection of execution, though it’s been exhilarating of late to see up-and-coming talents like Matty Bovan take it on. Donatella used it for an abbreviated (okay, it wasreallyshort) mirrored long-sleeved dress and a floor-length liquid column, both colored rose pink. Would it have been fun to see all this on the runway? Yes, absolutely, especially now, given how grim the world is at the moment; some Versace fabulosity would be a welcome distraction, even if only for a few moments. Still, if things work out, some of these looks will be seen by gazillions of viewers come the Oscars on February 26.
23 January 2017
“This collection is different for me. I put a lot of attention on draping, and less on embroideries and super-sexy.” That was Donatella Versace 24 hours or so before tonight’sAtelier Versaceshow at her hair and makeup test with Guido Palau and Pat McGrath. It was a pronouncement that held up on the runway, where, indeed, Versace toned down the house signature va-va-voom, at least to begin with. The show opened with a dramatic, cinched cashmere coat in blush pink backed in mint green, with one lapel dipping off a bare shoulder over a scarlet bustier gown the same shade as its model Karen Elson’s glitter-painted lips. The color combination was unusual, but persuasive, as was the combo that came a couple of looks later: crimson cashmere lined with sky blue silk and worn over a lavender slip dress.As for the draping that Versace mentioned, it took many forms, from the asymmetric neckline of an excellent black tailleur, to the swags of fabric that clung to the curves of Bella Hadid’s otherwise demure long-sleeved red sheath, to the floor scraping yards of fabric knotted at the hips of a stretchy, sequined tube dress. Irina Shayk’s sculptural bodice black gown with the hip-grazing slit is headed straight for the red carpet. Regarding the embroideries Versace disavowed, in the end there wound up being a quite a few of them; paillettes fairly encrusted the back of a wrap coat and glinted from between the ribbon-like construction of hourglass gowns. Old habits are hard to break. A few of the looks toward the end couldn’t help but look belabored compared to the high chic of that cold shoulder belted coat.
3 July 2016
Glorification of every curve of a woman’s body through clothing—if there’s one house that owns that idea, it’sVersace. UnderDonatella Versace’s reign, the label has recently taken a feminist slant, angling away from the notion of woman as rock-star arm candy and nightclub predator.Versace’s Fall ready-to-wearwas a refreshing tour de force in glam urban militaria, but how to follow that in couture? The Rio Olympics are coming up in August, so maybe that’s what sent Donatella in the direction of female power through athleticism—the body used to achieve personal goals that aren’t to do with man-catching sexuality. Well, that’s what the soundtrack pointed us toward, anyway: a narrative by Violet, speaking out about “feminine strength to overcome obstacles.”Nonetheless, thisVersace Alteliercollection was a full-on old-school display of cutaway, plunge, curve, slash, and skin display. After an opener of optic white tailoring and taut ski pants, it was on with the real business: feats of dressmaking engineering involving asymmetrical patchworked geometries, suspension by Swarovski ropes and twisted straps, embroidered and printed ergonomic patterns, skewed sequined checkerboards and poured silicone grills. In her couture collection, Donatella is determined to add new science to traditional techniques, and she noted that the work in this show was some of the most time-consuming she’s ever devised. Still, labor and complexity don’t always sell a dress. After all the body-con gowns and fitted minidresses, it was the moment when she broke free of the sporty theme with a few light, sheer dance-dress silhouettes with full, airy skirts that looked best.
24 January 2016
"There are two faces," Donatella Versace declared backstage. "We wanted to show the softer side of Versace." Tonight's Atelier show was a sharp U-turn from her recent couture and ready-to-wear outings, with their emojis, their made-for-Instagram logo dresses, and their computer precision. Where she wound up felt somewhere in the vicinity of Laurel Canyon by way of the Coachella Valley, if festivalgoers wore bespoke dresses made from hand-painted floral fil coupe, or unraveling strips of pastel chiffon cinched across the torso by narrower strips of chain mail.But if this was a softer, more deconstructed, and, as her notes suggested, easier Atelier Versace, it wasn't for the tame. "Out there we are stoned," Jim Morrison intoned on the soundtrack as Lara Stone made her exit on patent leather platform go-go boots. There was barely an edge in sight that wasn't frayed, be it the cuff of a single bell sleeve or the tiered tufts of chiffon on the asymmetric skirts of showpiece gowns. Some dresses seemed just barely held together with strings of flowers, while others balanced solid silk chiffon on one side with peekaboo cutouts on the other. As ever, skin was on unabashed display, often exposed through the sheer corsetry ungirding from which she suspended all that bias-cut drape.Versace didn't see the idea of perfect imperfection all the way through to the end. Some of the dresses were more showgirl than festival girl. A lifetime of flash is hard to let go of. But look past those outliers. She was really onto something with those vibrant floral velvet numbers.After the second show, where Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Naomi Campbell perched in the front row, Versace headed over to the amfAR dinner at Ledoyen, a famous Paris boîte in the shadow of the Grand Palais. There were other designers in the mix, not to mention a handful of celebrities, but Versace and her tattered model tribe were the stars around whom the rest of the party revolved.
5 July 2015
Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams, Jane Fonda, Kate Hudson—no other designer dressed as many boldfacers as Donatella Versace did at the Golden Globes. If tonight's Atelier Versace show is anything to go on, DV may score even more red carpet time at the Grammys two Sundays from now. The idea this season, as she put it, was "to go back to the shape of a woman's body, which is curvy." There wasn't a straight line to be found, not on the terrific black tailleurs that opened the show, nor on a trio of the youthful emoji-embroidered minidresses worn with matching knee-high boots, and definitely not on the evening dresses with their swirling arabesque insets of nude mesh.The color palette was a bracing mix of black, white, red, and royal blue. And to start, at least, the clothes were remarkably unadorned by couture standards. There wasn't a single bead until look 14. That meant cut and fit had to count. Versace's experiments with a new, more generous volume—seen on dirndl-style skirts and on a dress with a shorter-in-front and longer-in-back hem—didn't quite gel. She's much more in her element with a body-hugging silhouette. And hug these clothes certainly did. Think Cher in her Oscar-winning days with an aerodynamic dash of Olympic ice-skater thrown in. The best numbers in this hit-and-miss collection were the most discreet: those black suits with the asymmetrical portrait necklines; one-shoulder jumpsuits with a slit up a flared leg; a gracefully clingy one-sleeve white gown.Versace made up for the collection's early absence of beading as the show continued with a jet-embroidered dress so glossy it looked painted on, and a somewhat clunkier rubberized lace halter gown. By the end, Eva Herzigova and Amber Valletta's numbers were more cutout than they were dress. Apart from Kate Hudson, who sat in the front row with mama Goldie Hawn, Hollywood types may look askance at going nearly nude to a big awards show, or anywhere else. The music crowd is a much more freewheeling bunch: They're on a wavelength that Donatella is utterly attuned to. We expect to see multiple Atelier Versace gowns on February 8.
25 January 2015
One of the highlights of this week's Couture schedule is sure to be the opening of the Musée Galliera's new show,Les Années 50, La Mode en France 1947-1957,curated by the fashion savant Olivier Saillard. In a timely coincidence, Donatella Versace revisited the decade for her Atelier Versace collection tonight. That starting point marks a departure for the designer, who has lately found muses in the likes of Lady Gaga and Grace Jones, and inspiration from more contemporary reference points, like nineties grunge.Donatella's fifties, of course, were different from the Galliera's fifties. Her round-shouldered, boned-waist jacket featured a strategic cutout at the shoulder with a gold buckle to suspend it in place. A slit-front bustier dress, meanwhile, was a dress in name only; one of the legs of the model who wore it was covered with a pant. These were among the strongest looks in the collection, confidently executed and rigorously structured. In some ways, they were the polar opposite of the navel-baring, slit-up-to-there tropical-print dress of Donatella's that Jennifer Lopez wore to the Grammys back in 2000, simultaneously cementing both divas' places in red-carpet history. Lopez was in the front row tonight, poured into a strapless corseted gown with gold buckles at the hip. But if Versace's techniques are more sophisticated now, it was and always will be about flaunting the assets at this house.Also percolating was the notion of taking something as simple and everyday as the T-shirt and rendering it haute by covering it in crystals and beads and draping it into an hourglass evening dress. Side by side, these dresses didn't have the precision of the opening numbers—though perhaps because of that fact, they will be fun and sexy to wear. A few fringed pieces made from crinoline, with fine strips of patent leather embroidered on top, somewhat muddled the message.For the finale, it was back to the fifties, but as before, with a generous tweak. A powdery pink silk-duchesse satin ball gown came slit up the middle, fully revealing the black Swarovski crystal bodysuit it was strapped and buckled to. "I am Versace," the designer said beforehand, explaining the piece's brazen cut and construction. "I have to show it to the world."
5 July 2014
Picture Grace Jones in one of her iconic hoods. That's what Donatella Versace did as she was designing her new Atelier Versace collection. "She left a sign as a strong, powerful woman, a power goddess," Versace said of Jones before the show. "I wanted to embody that." Versace set about her glam salute by combining the body-con silhouettes that are essential to the house DNA with more fluid draping.Fashion is trending toward easier, more relaxed silhouettes at the moment, and Donatella may be keying into that, but if her designs here were liberated, they were fierce in a way that will be familiar to the label's followers. Take the opening tailleur. The skirt was draped black silk jersey studded with a grid of Swarovski crystals, but the jacket was as structured as a suit of armor, its rhinestone-embroidered hood conjuring Ingrid Bergman as Joan of Arc as much as it did Jones.As it happens, Azzedine Alaïa, the man who first put Jones in a hooded dress, was watching in the audience tonight. But this collection was all Donatella, with the anatomical seaming on cocktail dresses picked out in stone and outlined in tiny metal chains, and geometric back cutouts flanking a lacing detail that ran up the spine. Graphic tattoo motifs were stitched in crystals onto the sheer tulle of a top worn with a very un-Versace voluminous ball skirt. "Tattoos are a new form of art, a less elitist one that everybody knows," said Donatella of the impulse. Other embellishments were more understated, or if not understated, at least more personal. Donatella certainly relished pointing out the cropped black Perfecto that closed the show. Made from tiny pieces of leather sewn onto georgette, the jacket weighed next to nothing, a feat only a couture atelier could pull off. It was the signal achievement of the collection, and there were certain elements in the crowd that would've liked to see more along those lines.In the end, though, it will be the flash and bang of slinky red-carpet numbers in acid green, orange, and purple, their corset waists embroidered in glass beads, with bare legs flashing, that will provide the collection's most-tweeted images.
18 January 2014