This season Donatella kicked loose to bring a hippyish, globetrotter vibe to the usually stringently urbane Versace look. While the show notes described the collection as “Tailoring with a lingerie edge” we saw something much more relaxed – blazers were cut boyfriend style and it was the tie dye mini dresses and festival lacing that dominated the show. Lingerie crochet-lace was integrated into a procession of separates, adding that signature Versace sex appeal, but there was an easiness which we don’t normally associated with the high-maintenance Versace woman.

A sun-bleached palette invoked the spirit of the open road and desert backdrops while low-slung skirts and jeans brought a bohemian almost Marant-esque attitude to several of the looks.

Of course the was no lack of glamour. The closing floorsweepers with their billowing sleeves and Liz Hurley-worthy thigh splits ratcheted up the glitz factor and long metallic tassels glimmered from models’ waists making ensuring that  there was plenty to dazzle.

Accessories also helped paint the picture. Over-the-body messanger style bags said that this season’s muse was far too busy having fun to hold a tote, while knee high, heeled gladiator sandals kept things on the Versace side of the style fence. These were outfits for a Versace girl’s Burning Man or Ibiza suitcase – a world away from her glacial city wardrobe.

Hemlines were again microscopically short – some of the skirts and dresses would only work practically with a bikini underneath – especially when acres heeled legs was involved. But then Versace isn’t about the practicalities of VPLs – instead its about a vision of the modern jet-set woman, taking each holiday off the beaten track in her Gladiator-sandal stride.