Gianni Versace introduced Versus in 1989 describing it as, "Versus was born with an innate creative approach, with a strong focus on innovation, flair and the unconventional. An artistic force that takes present fashion forward, anticipating new trends and embracing challenge". Today Versus is known as Versace's second line and as a brand. It is claimed to be worn by many celebrities including Zayn Malik, Jennifer Lopez, Cheryl Cole, Leighton Meester, Miranda Cosgrove and Alexa Chung, and featured in and on the cover of fashion and lifestyle magazines like Vogue, InStyle, ELLE and Glamour.
History
After the success of Gianni, Versace SpA in the early and mid 1980s, the company's founder Gianni Versace created the house's secondary line, Versus, as a gift to Donatella, his sister, muse, and vice-president of the company. The first fashion show was presented in Milan in 1990. Between 1995 and 2003, each season's collection of ready-to-wear, accessories, eye wear, and watches were presented in New York during New York Fashion Week. Versus was known for its distinctive rock-chic look that Donatella favoured and still influences the houses main line collections today. Versus grew to include menswear, fragrances, and its own diffusion line, Versus sport, headed by Versace's life partner, Antonio D'Amico. During 2004, when the company was facing a downturn in profits, Versus was reduced to a limited collection of accessories, eventually being shut down with the final show; the menswear spring/summer 2005. In 2009, Donatella Versace began a stylistic collaboration with English designer Christopher Kane, marking the re-launch of the brand in February 2009 with a special "capsule of accessories", distributed through selected multibrand stores. After working with Kane, M.I.A. created a capsule collection. In December 2013, Versace announced that Anthony Vaccarello will create a capsule collection for Versus.
Christopher Kane (2009–12)
Having acted as a consultant at Versace after Donatella acclaimed his MA collection for Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, Donatella invited Scottish designer Christopher Kane to re-launch the line with her in February 2009 with a capsule collection of handbags, shoes and jewellery. For spring/summer 2010, Kane presented 16 dresses for the line at Milan Fashion Week. He has since presented two other collections for the line, fall/winter 2009/2010 and most recently spring/summer 2011, his first official runway collection at Milan Fashion Week. Donatella has likened Kane to her brother, the late Gianni Versace. Since his death in 1997, she has become the creative director of the house's main line Gianni Versace couture and other surviving diffusion lines.
There are several lines of watches that are made in various materials. There are lines in many colors for adults, boys and girls: strong colors such as yellow, blue, red, green. They are claimed to be water resistant up to five atmospheres.
Fragrance
Along with the re-launch of Versus, Versace introduced a fragrance to the line, entitled Versus. The bottle is of purple and white design. The model Lara Stone is the face of the ad campaign shot by Craig McDean.
Zayn Malik (2017)
English R&B-pop singer and former One Direction member Zayn launched his own capsule collection called 'ZAYNxVersus' that was released in June 2017. Along with Zayn, Bella Hadid also modelled for the collection.
