Strength Is Sexy, Says Donatella Versace with Her Fall 2017 Collection

“I am designing for a woman who works, who has children—or maybe she doesn’t work, but she definitely has power,” Donatella Versace told W in a recent interview. “The power to keep on going forward. I have to succeed in showing women that we can do more, that we are stronger than men.” Versace’s Fall 2017 collection might be her most overt statement to that effect yet: She sent out a cast of models, including Anna Ewers, Anja Rubik, Bella Hadid, and Kendall Jenner, wearing slinky chain mail dresses, low-slung trouser pants, and sporty separates, many of them emblazoned with “Strength,” “Loyalty,” and “Unity” in bold block capitals. While her Versus Versace collection, which showed in London last week, was a purely fun endeavor, the main Versace line this season was a collection for the woman who knows strength and sex appeal aren’t mutually exclusive. To drive that message home, Amber Valletta closed the show. See intimate shots of Donatella Versace’s models preparing for Fall 2017, captured by photographer Nick DeLieto, here.