Welcome back to Fashion Bulletin, a weekly column where Coveteur's senior fashion editor, Ella O’Keeffe, recaps all the buzzy industry news you from the week.
Another week in fashion has come and gone without any axis-shifting news now that we’re all patiently waiting for all of those designer debuts come September. On this note, newly appointed Versace creative director Dario Vitale is reportedly opting out of a show for his first Versace collection.
The former Miu Miu design director will instead debut the first look at his Versace via an event during Milan Fashion Week on September 26, the brand confirmed to WWD, stating we: “will see the house host an intimate event, honoring the past and envisioning the future,”
After months of speculation–fuelled partially by Vitale’s appointment–Prada group confirmed it was acquiring 100% of Versace from Capri Holdings for 1.25 billion euros in April 2025. The deal is anticipated to go through towards the end of this year. Despite the shift in ownership, Donatella Versace will remain as the chief brand ambassador of Versace after stepping down as creative director in February of this year.
Show or not, it will be exciting to see what Vitale has in store for the brand. His success as design director at Miu Miu–currently the world’s most popular luxury brand–is well recorded, and with Prada’s acquisition of Versace, the fit makes sense. Donatella’s ultra-glam sensibilities carried through after Gianni’s death, so there will be a certain expectation of continuity on some level. Does Vitale have what it takes to bring the brand into its next phase? September will be very telling for all.
Miu Miu Collaborates With Artist Helen Marten For Art Basel Paris
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Speaking of Miu Miu, the brand will act as the official partner of Art Basel Paris’ Public Program for its sophomore year, and in turn will bring artist Helen Marten’s “30 Blizzards” project to the contemporary art show. Miu Miu is a masterful brand at tapping viral moments. See: almost every runway show and campaign since at least 2021 for reference. But the brand isn’t only successful because of its shows.
This particular project highlights Mrs. Prada’s fascination with women’s stories, and her commitment to investigating them further. This is something I love about Miuccia Prada–she is always willing to dig a little deeper to understand the lives and experiences of women better, which ultimately is what enriches her clothes with such accuracy for what modern women want to be wearing.
Victoria’s Secret Isn’t Ready To Quit
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Victoria’s Secret has announced the return of their runway show for the second year after taking a break from their infamous production. Since the lingerie giant’s reboot of the previously defunct show in the face of controversy and dropping views, the push to provide a more inclusive runway show last year was one that everyone expected, casting new-wave industry titans like Ashley Graham, Alex Consani, and Paloma Elsesser alongside some of the original Angels, Candice Swanepoel, Tyra Banks, and Adriana Lima.
Unfortunately for Victoria’s Secret, the reception wasn’t quite as positive as perhaps anticipated. Aside from the obvious questioning around the role of a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in our current cultural climate–and a contrasting sentiment of excitement for the models who were cast that previously would have been cut from the show due to archaic rhetoric around what kind of women the brand represented–was a general lack of vibe that no amount of contemporary casting could have saved. Taking place in what looked like an airplane hangar, the feeling of magic was near non-existent as the models emerged in looks-after-looks that felt, frankly, lackluster. Hopefully, this year the lingerie brand will be able to get it right. It may already be too late!
Bill Cunningham’s Archive Comes Home
Beloved New York Times Street Style photographer, Bill Cunningham, was a fixture of New York City for as long as I can personally remember. Now, his archive has been acquired by the New York Historical, which will be the new owner of “tens of thousands” of photographs, negatives, slides, contact sheets, prints, scrapbooks and correspondences that the photographer created.
As a young person desperate to be amongst it all in New York City, Cunningham’s work represented the things I wanted to be a part of in my teen years. Passing away in 2016, the renowned photographer was often spotted on his bike with his Nikon camera, shooting passersby for his NYT “On the Street” column. Reportedly, Cunningham was inclined to spend 10 hours outdoors each day shooting, not to mention the countless Met Gala’s, fashion shows, and NYC parties he photographed. The New York Historical reportedly has plans to display some of the scrapbooks that Cunningham put together in the near future, alongside a major exhibition of his “Evening Hours” columns, neither of which have any official dates yet.
