Versace staged a second, secret fashion show at the end of Milan Fashion Week, featuring a collaboration with none other than Fendi.
The fashion’s ultimate designers just pulled off a costume change that may be the historical IT moment of the year. Held at the extravagant Versace family palazzo, the Versace and Fendi swap opener was indeed a family affair.
The story begins with two friendly, but competitive Italian sisters known as iconic fashion houses Versace and Fendi. The designers decided to parent trap each other’s designs in a brilliant, show-stopping one-night-only catwalk collection for the ages.
The star-studded event included Dua Lipa, Elizabeth Hurley and Demi Moore alongside cult favorite models Adut Akech, Vittoria Ceretti, Shalom Harlow, Gigi Hadid and Kate Moss.
This lineup was then shut down by none other than neighborhood legend Naomi Campbell.
The iconic monogram, created by Lagerfeld, also made an appearance in the gold chokers, gowns and minidresses — including one seen on Kate Moss — in the “Versace by Fendi” collection. The men’s offerings also had a streetwear vibe to them, including oversized shirts, shorts and bucket hats labelled “Fendace”.
The designer, who is head of Dior menswear, debuted his first collection for Dior in collaboration with American artist Brian Donnelly “KAWS.” Jones’ memorable show featured “KAWS’s” infamous best friend character created out of romantic pink roses, suited in Dior.
As with all great conversations, this one started at a fabulous dinner. Jones and Fendi’s Silvia Venturini joined Donatella Versace after a ready-to-wear show where the trio dreamed up a fun and feisty reversal, an event where the two sides could literally step into each other’s shoes. Versace would give Fendi the Versace makeover, while Jones and Venturini would Fendi-up Versace’s wardrobe.
The design-off turned out to be the ultimate homage to one another’s past and present. The moment the iconic Versace logo above the catwalk turned one hundred eighty degrees to reveal the Fendi logo, a phenomenon was born. This magical surprise sparked a shift into a radical direction that no other designers had risked before.
The process here included rare, archival research that none of the opposing sides had seen before.
The designers discovered new elements about the craft of design, which resulted in dialogues over each others’ overlaps and differences in taste. Like the deep bond between two sisters, each designer exposed their own vulnerabilities as competitors, but also gained unique freedom to reinterpret their destinct visions through one another.
At the base of this open discourse, was the essential foundation-trust. Because of it, each house has come out victorious. Their late ancestors, the both late and great, Gianni Versace and our pony-tail fashion father Karl Lagerfeld would be proud.
