Some seek artistic movements as the main source of inspiration for their next, ground breaking collection. Others seek models and some even go as far as political movements. This season, Versace’s creative director Donatella Versace opted for a much more exciting collaboration with none other than musical rebel M.I.A. and to be quite frank, she couldn’t have picked a better figure.
They soon came up with the ingenious idea of using counterfeit culture – in particular, the fake Versace copies circulating – as the main source of inspiration for the upcoming collection. Through this came along a capsule collection designed for Versus, the young heart of Versace. The pieces thrive off classic sportswear teamed with old school, gold jewelry overdosing the wearer in urban fever and multi-cultural bliss. The patterns incorporate the Versace trademark medusa head and Greek friezes with special references to sacred and deeply religious Sanskrit lettering. The pieces are young, free and great for statement, day-to-day wear.
You could say M.I.A. and Versace made a mockery of all the counterfeits and frauds out there with the opening line on the brand website reading “inspired by the ‘creativity’ of fashion bootleggers”. Versace hits back at the fake spin-off’s circulating, showing that no matter how many of them might sell, Versace will forever dominate. The vibrant and heavily printed capsule collection went on sale on October 16th and are proving popular worldwide; why wouldn’t you want a dose of Versus or M.I.A. in your wardrobe?