A closer look at the latest Versace Women's Sneakers

It has been a busy few days of Versace news, yesterday the Italian brand announced its finalized sale to Michael Kors, ushering in a new era for the company, and on Friday last week it showed off its SS19 women's collection at Milan’s Fashion Week. A vibrant colorful exhibition of print and flowers, Versace has been showing a shift in focus to include a more youthful and street-oriented demographic, most clearly exhibited when looking at their development within sneaker design. With the employment of Salehe Bembury, whos Chain Reaction designs have in many ways revolutionized Versace’s sneaker aesthetic, which has continued in his designs for the Versace sub-label Versus, in the creation of the Anatomia sock sneaker. His Chain Reaction design has also made an impact on the female side of Versace’s ranges, and we were curious to see the latest evolution of his design presented during to MFW. Below follows a focus on his new female sneaker designs for Versace.

First off the original design was presented in three new colorways, black, white, and grey with neon green laces. A bit more subtle than its preceding editions, but aesthetically in many ways these work better, in their combination of a clean yet expressive design. Then it was time for the wildcard, it has been hard not notice the sandal trend that has been ranging this summer, helped on by the unseasonably hot summer we’ve been experiencing. Bringing this to its natural conclusion, Salehe has created two sandal like versions of his Chain Reaction design. The chunky chain-linked sole remains intact, but the uppers have been lifted and replaced in one design by a higher, slightly Romanesque ankle sandal design, and in the other, it is even more stripped back with three velcro straps replacing the upper almost completely, leaving a very open and breezy shoe design behind. The unconventional approach actually works quite well and brings a bit of much needed class to the tricky world of sandals, while literally opening up a new level for sneakers.