Seven things you need to know about Versace’s racy, sporty Milan Fashion Week show

Over the past four years the Versace woman has developed some real kick-ass attitude and the latest collection for Spring-Summer 2017 shows women who are not prepared to compromise. Tennis star Serena Williams, sitting front row, typified the message that this season is about strong women.

1. Donatella’s girls are still sexy but much empowered. The sporty look is tough and urban, but it is the determined way the girls walk in their functional no-nonsense flat-form sandals and Velcro-strapped shoes with architectural high heels that gives them attitude.

2. Ultra-thin high-tech nylon is used for billowing parkas and blousons, and dresses whose shapes are manipulated by drawstrings.

3. Dresses, skirts and tops are spliced at angles and studded together. A few swishy Sunray pleated dresses and silky slit skirts give energy when in movement and were as soft as the look got.

4. Leggings make a return, a skinny bottom half to exaggerate sharply tailored techno-jersey jackets, while leather motocross jackets and pants emphasise the sexy sporty mood.

5. Even the colour palette is dark and moody: purple, dark green and black, or dark red and pale blue combinations. it’s the complete antithesis of all the brights and whites shown elsewhere in Milan.

6. Versace’s starry cast included the supermodel Hadid sisters, Bella and Gigi; Edie Campbell; the return of some of Donatella’s favourite stars like Carmen Kass and Naomi Campbell, who was giving the newcomers a lesson in how to command a catwalk with a look and a swagger, and a bevy of Victoria’s Secrets models, wearing a bit more than they’re used to.

7. The high-tech fabrics, sporty look, leather and hardware were all well suited to the techno show location in Milan’s ambitious modern architectural zone. Twisting curving towers by Zaha Hadid and Daniel Libeskind provide a Bladerunner backdrop for Versace’s vision of strong, modern women.