Versace’s Milan Show Aims for ‘Optimism and Joy’ with Colorful Prints

 A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP)
A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP)
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Versace’s Milan Show Aims for ‘Optimism and Joy’ with Colorful Prints

 A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP)
A model wears a creation as part of the Versace Spring Summer 2025 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP)

Presenting a playful and colorful collection of mismatched prints, Italian designer Donatella Versace said she had set out to bring "optimism and joy" to the catwalk with her show at Milan Fashion Week.

Friday evening's Versace show, held at the medieval Castello Sforzesco, kicked off with models wearing clashing prints: zigzag tops and floral skirts, an aesthetic that dominated the spring/summer 2025 line for both womenswear and menswear.

The mixed prints featured on silky dresses and skirts, shirts and knitwear which came in brown, blue, lilac and yellow, with hints of the Versace Medusa head print on some designs.

Outfits nodded to 1990s' styles, with shirts sticking out from under short, unbuttoned cardigans, and there was also a selection of tailored suits and trousers in lemon.

"When there is so much darkness in the world - with this collection, I wanted to bring color, light, optimism and joy - we have never needed it more," Versace, the design head at the Italian fashion house, said in a statement.

Some pieces were cut in shimmering gold - a corset, skirt and strapless dress.

Models also wore colorful tights as well as slinky heels or platforms in bold hues, while menswear models wore suits with trainers or socks and sandals.

Milan Fashion Week runs until Monday.



Giorgio Armani, 90, Says He Plans to Retire Within 'Two or Three Years'

FILE PHOTO: Designer Giorgio Armani appears at the end of his Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for Giorgio Armani Prive in Paris, France, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Designer Giorgio Armani appears at the end of his Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for Giorgio Armani Prive in Paris, France, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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Giorgio Armani, 90, Says He Plans to Retire Within 'Two or Three Years'

FILE PHOTO: Designer Giorgio Armani appears at the end of his Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for Giorgio Armani Prive in Paris, France, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Designer Giorgio Armani appears at the end of his Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2024-2025 collection show for Giorgio Armani Prive in Paris, France, June 25, 2024. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

Giorgio Armani, the founder of the eponymous Italian fashion brand, said in an interview published on Sunday that he plans to retire within the next two or three years.
Armani is 90 years old and has so far been tight-lipped about the succession plans for the company he founded in 1975 and still firmly controls.
"I can still give myself two or three years as head of the company. Not more, it would be negative," he told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Armani said he has restless nights in which he dreams of a future in which "I no longer have to be the one who says 'Yes' or 'No'."
He added he has received "slightly more insistent" approaches from potential outside investors in his company, "but for the moment I do not see any openings".
With no children to pass it on to, there has been speculation about the long-term future of Armani's empire and whether, in an industry dominated by luxury conglomerates such as LVMH and Kering, it will be able to maintain the independence he treasures.
In the interview with Corriere della Sera, Armani said he had "built a kind of structure, a project, a protocol" to govern his succession, without elaborating.
Last year, Reuters reported on a document held by a notary in Milan which sets out the future governing principles for those who will inherit the group, and on another that details issues including protecting jobs at the firm.
Armani's heirs are expected to include his sister, three other family members working in the company, long-term collaborator and partner Pantaleo Dell'Orco and a charitable foundation.