Show report: Versace S/S'12

Visits to Versace HQ are never dull and this season, fashion’s most theatrical of designers delivered what she does best – a collection throbbing with sex and glamour

Visits to Versace HQ are seldom dull. Last season, the designer's courtyard was trussed up as a baroque palace for a collection of rich yellows and purples adorned with the Versace flower motif.

For S/S 2012, the decor was pared down with nothing but white hot lights and a cool cream Versace Medusa to greet us. A few of the fashion pack pondered whether Donatella had gone all serious for spring summer. But they needn’t have worried.

Fashion’s most theatrical of designers delivered what she does best – a collection throbbing with (in her own words) ‘sex and glamour’.

Models burst onto the runway with big hair, full lips and attitude in vertiginous Perspex platforms and a succession of bejewelled figure-hugging gowns.

Aquamarine patterns permeated throughout with seahorses and starfish creeping up waists and fastening skirts and jackets.

White chiffon was the mainstay of the collection with black leather (gold studded, naturally) as an edgier alternative for eveningwear. Shirking the pea green that many designers have banked on for spring summer, Donatella drew on a palette of acid pastels with softened lime, lemon, creamy orange and soft turquoise versions of the collection's signature gowns.

Gathered, bandage-style dresses and bandeau tops gave a nod to the bodycon trend circa 2006 whilst its founder, Donatella’s Versus co-designer Christopher Kane, nodded approvingly from the front row.

SEE CHRISTOPHER KANE'S S/S'12 COLLECTION FROM LONDON FASHION WEEK HERE

Versace's vision for spring summer 2012? It's all about getting your glam on. The stomach crunches start tomorrow...

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