Dario Vitale’s time at Versace barely had time to settle before it was over. As the first non-family creative director after Donatella, his appointment was historic. Then, just days after Prada Group finalised its $1.38 billion acquisition of the house, Vitale was sidelined, and the brand moved on without him. The optics were brutal, but new ownership often brings a new creative direction.

Now that the mushroom cloud has settled, though, we still have Vitale’s Spring Summer 2026 campaign. Knowing that this is his first and last Ready-to-Wear collection for Versace, it hits thrice as hard.

For his debut show, Vitale did not try to out-Versace the house. He did not drown it in nostalgia or cosplay Gianni or Donatella. Instead, he focused on what truly matters: sensuality. Not the literal, costumey caricature one could easily veer into, but sensuality as an emotion, a feeling experienced by the body and the mind.

His choice to stage the show at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana felt telling. A historic Milanese art museum turned into a private residence. Rooms that looked lived in with unmade beds, bathroom littered with makeup-stained swabs, and what appeared to be blister packs and pills sprawled across the floor. It felt like a reflection of a Versace lifestyle, and it was intimate in a way that only someone’s private quarters can be.  

Along with the space, the styling this season heightened the intimacy and sensuality without being too explicit. Shirts were slightly undone, leather skimmed the body, and silhouettes were exaggerated yet alive. Here, styling was presented as a way to feel, to live, to exist fully. 

Every detail amplified intimacy, making human impulses visible in small, deliberate ways. Vitale’s Versace is one reimagined for a life of sensuality led by feeling, where desire, curiosity, and the energy of living freely are stitched into the garment.

Runway shows are, by their nature, fleeting. But Vitale has now immortalised his collection through the lens of three very different photographers. The house called it “a dialogue invoking the fundamental essence of Versace: the confronting glamour of Steven Meisel, the raw intimacy of Frank Lebon, and the cinematic power of Tania Franco Klein.”

Steven Meisel anchors the campaign, a long-time collaborator and keeper of the House’s legacy. His images feature the models in an entangled pile, gazing straight above to the camera, bodies interwoven in a way that’s sexy, bold and intentional.

Frank Lebon then shifts the energy; the polish of conventional fashion photography gives way to something grittier, closer. Through raw moments, he channels the heartbeat of the underground, producing imagery that feels candid and intimate. 

Tania Franco Klein brings the psychological layer. Her darkened glamour blurs the line between intimacy and darkness. Saturated color and theatrical lighting frame fleeting gestures, shoes, and bags, with a touch of voyeurism. Her work turns desire and human impulse into sensuality, into Versace.

Vitale, with his passion for Caravaggio, likened the casting to bringing gods down from Mount Olympus. “I wanted to see those gods and goddesses having an affair with mortals,” he said. Featuring artists, dancers, athletes, and cultural figures, the campaign pulses with sensuality, curiosity, and raw humanity. And now, through the imagery, it can live three times longer.

Vitale’s departure stings because it felt like the start of something new. A Versace that wasn’t trapped in its own reputation, one a new audience could feel, desire, and live in. 

I knew the old Versace as ostentatious, at times loud. Vitale made it feel different; a brand you could inhabit, desire, and feel. 

Maybe this collection will become a footnote. Maybe it becomes a blueprint someone else will refine. Either way, we will always have Vitale’s Versace SS26 to look back on. 

Ciao Versace, Viva Vitale.