The 60s in the co-lab "La Vacanza" by Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa

Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa together for Pre Fall 23 to celebrate the Italian summer. The co-lab between fashion and music brings cocktail dresses to the poolside.

Fashion and music converge in Cannes, where the Versace Maison decided to present its new collection inspired by La Dolce Vita. Friends in everyday life and now also in work, Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa celebrated the hot season with the presentation of “La Vacanza”.

Donatella Versace end Dua Lipa

A catwalk immersed in an infinity pool and the warm, persuasive light of sunset at the Château de la Croix des Gardes were enough to transport the invited celebrities into a skilful mix of the Italian summer of the Sixties and the allure of the Côte d’Azur, made of glitter and sensuality.

The Maison’s heritage, revisited and updated, serves as the driving force for the entire fashion show. The bralettes with medusa logo buckles recall Gianni Versace‘s FW92 collection, the metallic ’90s dresses worn at the time by Claudia Shiffer and Naomi Campbell cross the Cannes catwalk with a fresher, more contemporary air on models of the calibre of Irina Shayk and Vittoria Ceretti.

The palette crosses a childlike femininity given by pastel colours and the sensuality of black as in FW94; while the recurring archive print with butterflies and ladybirds appears for the first time in SS95 and the Versace Home campaign.

Another dip into the past is evident in Gianni Nastro’s archive stitching adorning the bust of dresses inspired by the Spring-Summer 2003 collection, with new cut-out details.

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Bikinis and terrycloth swimming costumes give way to sparkling mini-dresses and candyfloss coloured skirt and bralette suits, with two pockets attached to two braces trimmed with Medusa heads suitable for a poolside aperitif.

Prints also dominate in Pre-Fall 23, polka dot motifs combine with ladybirds and butterflies painting chiffon dresses and palazzo trousers.

Crowning the Barbie Girl allure that ran through the entire collection were hairstyles with big backcombs and headbands.

Despite the fanciful juxtaposition of butterfly-shaped jewellery, the latest catwalk outings paid homage to black and its elegance with simple-cut dresses such as the one worn by Irina Shayk and teamed with a pair of pointed white pumps.

Music has always been a central theme in the brand’s collections, just think of artists such as Madonna and Elton John, several times testimonials of the brand, which does not make the new collaboration with the British pop star appear as an isolated event but rather as a leitmotiv.

Donatella looking back on her four-handed work with Dua Lipa, smiling, says: “It was hard work, but to hear this voice next to me was fantastic. Dua is the woman of today, confident and strong. I wanted the collection to reflect what is happening in the world today. For me it is about fun, freedom and opulence”.

“Holiday dresses, summer colours, fun and freedom, but also a bit of cheekiness! But we also tried to create something very Versace, so that you don’t have to look at the label to know what it is,” said Dua.

The agreement between Donatella Versace and Dua Lipa thus opens a new chapter for the fashion house, which cleverly incorporates a marketing strategy with the need to reduce the canonical waiting time before being able to put the coveted clothes in the shopping cart, thus making the see now buy now collection available on the brand’s e-commerce starting the second after the end of the fashion show.

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