Netwon Vs Versace

The late Italian designer Gianni Versace always picked the best photographers for his advertising campaigns.

Some of you may remember early Versace adverts shot by Helmut Newton, Irving Penn, Francesco Scavullo, Richard Avedon, David Bailey and Bruce Weber.

For his 1986 advertising campaign, Versace went back to Newton, a photographer he particularly liked for his style, lights and technique, in a nutshell for the impact the images he took for the fashion house always managed to have.

Netwon first worked for Versace in 1979: the photographer and the designer used to exchange ideas a lot on the set, trying to create perfect images that could express precise messages and revolutionise a bit the world of fashion photography.

The shots taken by Newton for Versace in 1986 recounted a sort of story that had as main protagonists strong and powerful women clad in sensual black dresses surrounded by Mediterranean landscapes.

The Autumn/Winter 2010 Versace collection somehow evoked those Newton shots from 1986.

Leaving behind the diva clad in long, sensual and vibrantly coloured dresses from the previous collection, Donatella focused on more functional and almost minimalist (for Versace standards…) designs.

Slashing the designs and incorporating into them different types of fabrics that formed asymmetrical details (a trick that didn’t somehow work in the silhouette of the cropped denims, though...) recalled a bit the use of asymmetrical techniques in Versace’s mid-80s collections.

Yet, while in the latter asymmetry was used to play with volumes, in this collection volumes were almost flattened out, though there was a sort of three-dimensional effect in short and tight dresses with sculpted robotic corsets à la Thierry Mugler and long evening gowns that, albeit sexy, were in good taste.

Luckily there was no unnecessary theatrical extravagance à la Lady Gaga, despite the latter announcing she will soon launch her clothing line into the fashion world and maybe team up with Donatella Versace (let's start running for cover...).

But there were interesting similarities between the collection Newton shot in 1986, in particular in the cut out asymmetrical motifs that slashed the black and white designs and in the palette that mainly comprised metallic yellow, silver, black and electric blue.

In the mid-80s, blue often appeared in graphic prints in Versace's collections, but here the colour was used in geometrical designs or employed for the clinging cable knit dresses woven with colourful metal chains, a sort of oversized and more contemporary version of Versace's oroton. 

Another interesting connection with the work of the late Italian designer was to trace in the elaborate techno fabrics, like plasticised textiles or metallic patent calfskin used to create interesting mirror-like effects.

As a whole, while there weren't any infamous Versace safety pins around (but there were plenty of zips...), there were enough elements that proved Donatella used the fashion house heritage in a clever way, managing to amaze even Christopher Kane, the young British designer who has just completed his second collection for Versus, Versace's diffusion line, and who will hopefully equally manage to surprise his fans and critics during tomorrow's presentation.

Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos Member of the Boxxet Network of Blogs, Videos and Photos Add to Technorati Favorites Lijit Search

Comments

[cheap versace mens clothing]

As far as I can see, pastel colors prevail in Versace 2010 Fall collection, and their combinations are very outrageous, I should say.