Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid and Naomi Campbell star in high octane Versace show

The brand's Milan Fashion Week presentation was a riot of colour and positivity

Dua Lipa poses with Donatella Versace at the close of Versace's spring/summer 2022 presentation in Milan. AFP

Donatella Versace called on some famous friends to help her unveil her latest collection.

Singer Dua Lipa opened and closed Versace’s spring 2022 summer ready-to-wear presentation at Milan Fashion Week, making her catwalk debut in a skin-baring, safety-pinned suit reminiscent of the Versace dress that catapulted Elizabeth Hurley to stardom in the 1990s.

She was followed by Naomi Campbell, clad in a hot-pink suit paired with an orange suit; Gigi Hadid in a snug latex dress; and Madonna’s daughter Lourdes Ciccone Leon, who wore metallic silver.

It was a show steeped in high-voltage energy that reinforced many of the house’s codes, from joyful colours to silky foulards and those oversized safety pins. The presentation opened with black suits and dresses that betrayed tiny flashes of colour in the form of pins and foulards that peeked from hemlines and slits. The colour palette grew increasingly bold, bursting into a vivid palette of pink, aquamarine, seafoam green, acid green and yellow.

The collection was young and playful, with basketball silks and pyjama sets crossing paths with body-hugging dresses and skirts with high slits and ab-revealing corsets. It was a bright and bold revival of many of Versace’s most recognisable signatures and confident, sensual silhouettes.

Front-row guests included fashion influencer-turned-entrepreneur Chiara Ferragni and her husband, the singer Fedez, American influencer-turned-actress Addison Rae and actress Bella Thorne.

The brand is said to be planning a second “secret” show during Milan Fashion Week, co-designed by Donatella Versace and Fendi creative directors Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi. Cryptic gold-and-white invitations signed simply “Donatella” and summoning guests to “something special” on Sunday evening are currently being scrutinised for clues.