Original Supermodels Return to Catwalk to Honor the Late Gianni Versace

SupermodelsVersace
AP Photo/Luca Bruno
John Binder
Milan, Italy

It was 20 years ago that Gianni Versace, the creative genius who founded the famous Italian fashion house, was tragically murdered outside his Miami, Florida, mansion.

To honor her brother’s death, Donatella Versace – who’s been at the helm of the fashion house since Gianni’s passing – brought back the original supermodels of the 1990s who famously starred in Versace ad campaigns, ringing in a new era of glamour during a fashion period that too often rested for years on grunge, stale anti-beauty trends.

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#versace90s #cindycrawford

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“This is a celebration of a genius,” a voice over loudspeakers began the Spring/Summer 2018 Versace fashion show in Milan, Italy, as models appeared in groups walking down the runway. “This is a celebration of an icon. This is a celebration of my brother. Imagine a world without his risk-taking, his innovative genius and above all, his allegiance to women.”

Then, as the Versace fashion show seemed to be coming to an end, a curtain faded away to reveal supermodels Carla Bruni, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Helena Christensen, and Claudia Schiffer standing upon platforms in Italian-clad sexy gold gowns made for goddesses.

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20 years after her brother’s murder, @donatella_versace produced a Tribute collection, an ode to the work of her brother, #GianniVersace. The collection, which debuted in Milan today, was “Versace past through the eyes of Versace present,” @nytimesfashion critic Vanessa Friedman writes. And then, to top the show off, @donatella_versace invited some of her brother’s favorite models, the ones who had been most associated with his glamazon ideal — @cindycrawford, @claudiaschiffer, @helenachristensen, @iamnaomicampbell and @carlabruniofficial (or Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as she is now) — to create a finale tableau for the show that mimicked a 1994 ad campaign shot by #RichardAvedon of many of the same models in gowns of gold chain mail. “In the original they were draped over or dominating the prone figures of naked men,” Vanessa writes, but @donatella_versace skipped that part of the re-creation. “It’s 2017, after all,” she added. @elizabethcpaton, a reporter for @nytimesfashion, filmed this video at today’s #Versace show during #MilanFashionWeek. Visit the link in our profile to read more about how #DonatellaVersace is celebrating her past and confronting her future.

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As the group of supermodels stood in poses, Donatella eventually arrived in pin-straight bleach blonde hair and a black ensemble to walk the runway with the women. The supermodels held hands before stopping at the end of the runway to embrace Donatella as fashion onlookers took photos of the iconic group.

Unlike the many of the most famous models of today, i.e. Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, the supermodels of the 1990s had their careers launched purely for their ability to energize a runway show, sex appeal and their impeccable looks.

From left, Claudia Shiffer, Donatella Versace, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen on the catwalk at the end of the Versace women’s Spring/Summer 2018 fashion collection, presented in Milan, Italy, Friday, Sept. 22, 2017. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

 

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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