By now, you will know that Paris Hilton closed the Versace SS23 show in a glittering Barbie-pink chainmail dress. It was surprising for more reasons than the obvious, mainly because before the viral moment, Donatella Versace’s collection indicated that she was going goth for spring. The stained-glass set and church candles lining the runway paved the way for Gigi, Anok, Rianne, Bella et al to emerge from the darkness in looks that hinted at textbook rebellion: becoming a satan-worshipping goth to annoy your Catholic parents. Though Prince warmed up the venue before the show, it was Icky Blossoms’ Sex to the Devil with those words repeated over and over. “I have always loved a rebel,” Donatella shared in her show notes. “A woman who is confident, smart and a little bit of a diva. She wears leather, studs and frayed denim and she has enough attitude to mix them with chiffon, jersey, and a tiara!”
So, it was genius to close the show with Paris in the most synthetic, girlhood hue of Barbie pink chainmail. Just like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, it served as a reminder that pink (as is blondeness) is a state of mind — bringing to mind the infamous words of The Clash’s bassist, Paul Simonon, who said that “pink is the colour of punk”. Donatella seemed to be reflecting on the idea that for some, the sex-drugs-and-rock’n’roll look is Fontana-like slashes across the bodies of incendiary dresses, lashings of fringes leather swinging with every hip-swaggering stride, and lace-trimmed Gothic Lolita babydoll dresses — while, for others, it is a pink so unapologetically Pollyanna-ish that it somehow becomes subversive.
Anyway, it all went back to the word on everyone’s lips: Y2K. I know, I know. It’s becoming tiresome. And yet, in the hands of Donatella, it feels like a symbolic laying down of the gauntlet. After all, so often, the sartorial hallmarks of that early-Internet era that other designers are exploring — the salaciously slutty, oiled-limbed, Barbie blondeness — was made in the image of Ms Versace. After her brother Gianni’s death in 1997, it took a few years for Donatella to find her stiletto-clad feet in carrying the torch of his illustrious legacy — and it was at the turn of the millennium that she came into her own, transforming Versace into the image of herself in bling-bling chainmail minidresses, plunging necklines and clothes that showed off as much tanned skin as possible. Little wonder she wanted to remind the world of just how much her work is being recycled.
And who is more emblematic of that era than her fellow blonde, Paris Hilton? It took the fashion world a while to catch up to her artful blend of high-low trashy Beverly Hillbilly styling and kitsch love of all things Barbie. Donatella knew exactly what she was doing by enlisting her in the show — it was only a couple of years ago that she got J Lo on her catwalk, subsequently creating the most viral moment of the year. Paris, on the other hand, is a muse of the current moment — and arguably the closest thing this century has to a Warholian superstar. Now a bonafide icon of pop culture, her sassy, pouty hand-on-hip appearance at the end of the show was a great I-told-you-so moment. They all come around in the end.
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All images via Spotlight