Versace Goes Futuristic in Button-Down Heaven

Italian designer Gianni Versace’s 1990 fall collection had its U.S. premiere in Orange County last week, leaving the audience to wonder why.

Why would Carolyn Mahboubi, owner of the Versace boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, take one of the Italian designer’s most daring collections to buttoned-down Irvine and unveil it in the middle of a new condominium development?

“I’ve wanted to do something here for a long time,” Mahboubi said. “Newport Beach is a market we want to explore; the tie-in is nice. And they begged us.”

“They”--RecreActions, builders of the Italian-themed Corte Bella project in the ersatz Mediterranean Westpark area of Irvine--also used Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren’s name to sweeten the deal.

“They said Mr. Bren is doing a development,” Mahboubi said. “And that he would love to have the Versace collection at the opening.”

It was clear the condo crowd who saw the show--about 800 prospective buyers, builders, designers and contractors--was amused and confused. Only smatterings of applause greeted ensembles that epitomized Versace at his back-to-the-future best: elongated blazers over micro-minis, hot pink and chartreuse trench coats, ostrich feather accents, and models whose flowing hair was swept back with a wide, black headband, Versace’s de rigueur accessory for fall, 1990.

“There’s a chance we’ll open a boutique at Fashion Island in Newport Beach someday,” said Mahboubi, who seemed confused about the fact that she was in Irvine, not Newport Beach. “It’s clear the money is here. We just need to do more market research.”