Versace men's Spring/Summer 2012

Prints are everywhere on the runway this season--shirts, pants, hats, shoes, etc. If you ask Donatella Versace, she'll say they never went out of style. Other than the label's trade-mark silky baroque prints, this season showcased plunging kung-fu necklines, brightly coloured sandals, and lotsa buckles.

                                                       All images, GQ.com, copyright Conde Nast

-The Scandal

Donatella-- wtf??

Is it just me, or is there something creepy about the way Donatella Versace looks? This her at the conclusion of the Versace men's Spring/Summer 2011 show in Milan  (June 2010)

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Versace Spring/Summer 2010

"Now it's all about Versace

You copied my style

Five shots couldn't drop me

I took it and smiled"

(from Tupac Shakur's "Hit em up")

Ahhh, the good ol' day of rap wars from the 1990's.

Tupac v. Biggie.

If Louis Vuitton clothes and Cristal champagne were the favoured hip-hop accoutrements in the 2000's, in the 1990's, it was all about Versace.

Tupac Shakur in Versace

In its heyday in the 1990's, Versace's trade-mark gawdy, baroque, golden patterns, pastel coloured suits and Medusa logo were all the rage.



But nothing was more expressive than a Versace silk shirt.


I guess the brand catered to people's inner Louis XIV. I proudly owned a few ties that I bought as a student in the mid/late 1990's.

Unfortunately, Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997, and the brand has never fully recovered under the guidance of his sister Donatella. For the past 5 years, if not more, men's clothing has for the most part shunned flashy colours and baroque prints in favour of more minimalist designs, and either basic patterns or monotones.

The Versace store on Sherbrooke street in Montreal closed a few years after Versace was killed. Same with the lower-label Versace store (Versus) on Bloor street in Toronto;

With a few exceptions, whenever I've seen Versus or Versace merchandise in men's stores, I've always wondered who was buying it. It always seemed so tacky that it could only appeal to the guys from "A Night at the Roxbury."

However, there may be signs of life. I can only say good things about the 2010 Spring/Summer collection. There was a really cool South-Beach vibe to the clothes, and for once the label didn't fetishize colour combinations of black, cobalt blue and burgundy (which it often seems to do).

All photos from style.com, Mario Mardeira

-The Scandal