DIVE INTO VERSACE’S LATEST LA VACANZA 2025 COLLECTION:TAKING US INTO THE DEPTHS OF THEIR OCEANIC DESIGNS
words FLYNN LANZ
Versace strives to reconnect its oceanic roots by drawing upon Mediterranean mythology, pervading the House’s mentality from the beach to the city. For their latest Men’s and Women's Collections, La Vacanza 2025, it suspends the lifestyle between land and sea for public display. Fusing coastal dress codes it proposes an effortless transition from swimwear to leisure or formalwear, adorning new adaptations to the House’s overarching and historically embedded Tresors de la Mer motif. This collection is one to bring new heights in Versace’s exploration of fashion today through its application to travel items through to the illuminating visual language of ambiance that captures central juxtaposition of land and sea.
This collection embodies Versace’s focus on the transitions between sea to land and land to sea by establishing elements of the beach and its corresponding dress code. Within the Women’s Collection, we are provided with stimulating silhouettes that are crafted from draped swimsuits and corset tops, bodies and dresses fitted with tailored jackets and shorts. A highlight of these new designs is how Versace cuts a Grecian line mirrored in cowl-neck dresses meanwhile tank tops and gowns are draped with emblematic pins of Versace. The House continues to echo its oceanic theme by presenting us with a variety of new pleated dresses with notable translucent features to go over bikinis. In the Men’s Collection, the House’s eternal silk shirts inspire new manifestations with twin sets, printed bowling suits, and windbreakers strategically matching the shorts. This delicate sensibility is shaped through the lightweight material of cotton-wool tailoring which highlights the Medusa 95’ details. This nuanced silhouettes between both Collections reverberates an enhanced light feel that will stimulate a particular beach feeling.
The embellishments and material surfaces used by Versace in this collection mimics elements of the coast and the ocean through inspirations of treasures washed up on the shore. Tops, skirts and dresses are adorned with aquatic crystals, beads and sequin embroideries, nodding to the Spring-Summer 1996 Collection through ornamented seaglass. By creating a distinct ‘wet look’, Versace creates a clear and shiny overlay, draped with a safety pin that is interwoven with lamé for a liquid effect. Meanwhile, a re-edition of the Atelier Versace Spring-Summer 1994 gown is recreated through the lightweight mesh development appearing in the draped tops. The crushed effect of shirts in jersey and poplin create a distinct imitation to the memory of creases that fold in the suitcase - giving way for the aspiration of travel. These staple materials and techniques used by Versace flow into the Men’s Collection where Barocco motifs are woven into a jacquard of tailoring and mohair wool are embellished with a stitch embroidery; ebbed with rhinestone treasures of the sea.
La Vacanza itself is influenced through motifs that draw upon the seaside and a distinct Mediterranean culture rooted within Gianni and Donatella Versace. A salute to the family’s ancestral bearings in southern Italy - native to the city and Greek colony of Reggio Calabria - is materialised through a meeting of neoclassicism and baroque. This palette is featured in the Women’s collection where swimsuits are emblazoned with vivid graphics portraying the scenery of various sea-life and the notable Medusa. This Trésors de la Mer motif is re-imagined and adapted into the Men’s Collection through a graphic depicting a mermaid riding a seahorse - drawing from Spring/Summer 1993. This tribute to the illustrations of Erté and mythological inspirations of the Greek continue to be a common theme laid bare in Versaace’s latest collection.
We cannot forget to accessorise as La Vacanza presents us with nuanced interpretations of season motifs amongst their various toes, bags, sandals and many more. Through the saviour-fair of Versace, the Women’s Collection embraces this seasonal motif with Tag bags appearing in sea green and dragon fruit colourways. Meanwhile, the La Medusa totes and Kleio bags echo sequin embroideries, printed leather, leather patchworks and crocodile treatments - adding to the evocative sea treasures we’ve seen throughout the collection. Versace does not miss a beat with accessory details by adding bag charms that portray sea creatures made of deadstock l;eather as well as stiletto or flat sandals featured with straps that spiral around the ankle. Jewellery continues to feature hidden sea gems through maroc expressions of seashells, sea horses and Medusas as well as a garland of faux coral charm acting as symbolic representations of the House.
This sea-centric collection filled with a multitude of design motifs and ground-breaking techniques and material create an other-worldly effect. Versace truly takes us deep in the ocean and with the walls of the Mediterranean heritage through La Vacanza. By drawing upon the archival Trésors de la Mer pattern, it serves as a symbol to the House’s commitment to ongoing ocean conservation, restoration and support to the coral reefs cultivated around the world. Throughout 2025, clients who purchase collection items from La Vacanza 2025 will have the opportunity to name and later follow one coral adopted by Versace. They will receive a unique code and link to name and follow the coral’s journey from the farm to the reef where it will be reintegrated into the mesmerising yet delicate ecosystem. Coral gardeners and biodiversity are instinctive causes for Versace which has become evident through both initiatives and archival motives of mythological designs that connect us from the land to the sea. La Vacanza is a standout collection that mirrors the value of biodiversity and its natural evolution within Versace’s design premise.
