March 20, 2012 |
FROM THE VAULT (WINTER / SPRING 2012)
So, we were sitting front row at Verscae back in June (aren’t we always?), when what should make its way down the catwalk but a model. Bare-chested. In Speedos. And a dressing gown. All in Versace print. To all you fervent followers of fashion out there, this was obviously a “moment”. A return to the Versace of yore. The moment when Donatella finally freed herself from the shackles of her house and displayed a new confidence, one allowing her to embrace the heritage of her brand without being constantly compared to her brother. For Versace is her brand. She has more than grown into her role as “Versace”. For us, yes, this moment was all about that, but it also signified something equally important: the return of the hunk in the trunk. Now, we’re not saying that there’s been a lack of trunks on hunks, it’s just that the trunks were previously more trunk like. Mid-show, there was much trying to breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth just to calm ourselves down so we could take a clear picture. After all, when a new screensaver opportunity presents itself, you take advantage. That, in itself, should be enough to convince anyone of the importance of this very moment. But for those of you with doubts, we will share a fantasy… If you were to visit Style.com and peruse the show, you’d probably come up with Miami Vice (the 1980s TV show, not that atrocious remake). It’s there in the prints, in the colours, in the pushed-up sleeves. Admittedly, the whole dressing gown/trunk scenario – what we’ll call poolside dressing – was worn by the villains. If you had to choose, who would you have rather been? Don Johnson or the drug baron? But that’s besides the point. The only reason we watched Miami Vice, aged seven, was our giant crush on Don. Even at that young age we had experienced the power of a well-chiselled torso atop something small and skimpy. Despite regular evening prayers, though, Don never fulfilled our rather vivid fantasy and stripped to his smalls. Hence this watershed moment. In our heads, we decapitate every model that exited onto that runway and attach Don’s head. Finally our lust has an outlet. And for that alone we will always worship at Donatella’s golden feet.
by Natalie Dembinska
Photographer: Jason Lloyd-Evans
