Paris Hilton closes the Versace show surrounded by rock and gothic goddesses

Who could be better than Paris Hilton to close a show at a time when the noughties nostalgia takes by storm the fashion industry? The heiress, who was the first to be coined as a “it-girl”, made an appearance at the Versace’s Spring/Summer 2023 show last Friday evening in Milan, dressed in a candy pink sequinned dress with cowl neck that alluded back to her 2001 birthday outfit. Success guaranteed for Donatella Versace with this show, following the examples of her previous Spring/Summer 2020 show with Jennifer Lopez and Spring/Summer 2018 show with supermodels Carla Bruni, Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Helena Christensen.

For her summer collection, the fashion icon wanders in the 2000s, navigating between gothic-rock and sexy too-much touches. Black split dresses with oversized Mary Jane platforms open the collection for an ultra-contemporary interpretation of Morticia Adams, who is making her big comeback as Catherine Zeta-Jones in a Netflix series by Tim Burton. Then come the black leather and fringed looks for a sexy rocker style that would have undoubtedly seduced Kate Moss in her Pete Doherty era. The rest of the show brings together the best and worst of the nineties with a range of outfits featuring ultra-deep cowl necks, zebra print silk chiffons, low- cut flare trousers, flounced dresses, and open blouses... Drawing her inspiration from the house’s archives, as well as from Paris Hilton’s and Nicole Richie’s wardrobes during their The Simple Life period, Donatella Versace avoids the crash thanks to the use of three colors only that are sometimes associated with one another – electric fuchsia, princely purple, and jet black. Before Paris Hilton walked the runway for the finale, Donatella Versace paid tribute to her close friends, pop stars Britney Spears and Madonna, with sexy baby dolls combined with matching garters, stockings, and tone-on-tone lace veils, as a reference to their scandalous performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2003, alongside Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott.

“I have always loved a rebel. A woman who is confident, smart and a little bit of a diva. She wears leather, studs and frayed denim. She has enough attitude to mix them with chiffon, jersey, and a tiara! She is a strong liberated woman. She is gorgeous; she knows it; she is the Goddess of Freedom”, Donatella Versace said in the press release of the show. And for the Italian designer, who is one of the few women running a major luxury house and has been running it since the assassination of her brother Gianni in 1997, this Spring/Summer 2023 collection is a brilliant manifesto of her sharp ability to feel the times she lives in.