Donatella Versace’s Recipe for Pre-Fall Perfection? Combine Amber Valletta, JLo, and Jim Dine, Remix, Serve Hot

Shown on the cusp of a new century, Donatella Versace’s Spring 2000 collection marked a new chapter for the house and the woman who had been thrown into the driver’s seat—and further into the spotlight—when Gianni was killed. Looking back, it’s clear that this was the moment that Donatella emerged from her brother's shadow and hit her stride. She did so by updating the house code of hotness with a tropical gloss and her very own rock ‘n roll attitude. Vogue approved: Versace muse Amber Valletta wore a red, pink, and orange dress from the show on the magazine’s March 2000 cover, which hit newsstands about a month after a sizzling Jennifer Lopez made red-carpet dressing history at the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards dressed in a green-and-blue plunge-neck dress from Versace’s collection. It was a major moment. La Lopez in this printed stunner was to Donatella as Liz Hurley in a safety-pin dress was to Gianni.

Donatella mined the house archives for Pre-Fall 2019, revisiting the provocative pin collection of Spring 1994, as well as the Jim Dine hearts, inspired by the family’s own art collection, from Spring 1997. Never missing a beat, she used that print on the “JLo dress” and sent it down the runway—on Valletta, cierto.