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Cruise Wear Makes a Big Splash : Gianni Versace Collection Presented on Rodeo Drive

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There were disco music and champagne but no elbow room at Nipper’s nightclub in Beverly Hills recently, where a fashionable crowd gazed coolly at models on platforms. And the models, dressed to kill, stared back.

The setting made sense for a showing of Milan superstar Gianni Versace’s second cruise collection, presented by the Versace boutique on Rodeo Drive.

Although cruise season usually means relaxed clothes for a tropical retreat, the designer’s styles project a sophistication more suited to city and pavement than a Caribbean day in the sand.

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Versace creates intricate silhouettes that somehow manage to look simple--by the diagonal draping of fabric and the use of shirring to create uneven hemlines and hip wraps.

He ignores cruise conventions, such as bright colors and hot prints, turning instead to an earthy palette--including navy, brown, pea green and black--and to quiet checks and paisleys. He chooses crumpled silks and cottons, giving many of his designs the appearance of crinkled Chinese paper. His most sensual looks are highly structured but extreme in cut, such as a tailored suit with deep V-neckline, a tank top with low armholes, a straight skirt slit to the thigh.

Although not skintight, his suits, two-piece dresses, slacks and chemises are narrow in shape and often cinched with wide belts.

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