Versace Debuts Its Own Bite-Sized Soap Opera with Donatella and Helena Christensen
The proliferation of new streaming services is getting out of hand. But maybe—just maybe—we’d make rom for Versace+ one day.
Fortunately for now, the Italian fashion houses’s recent foray into scripted content is available to view for free in the form of a Versace Holiday Saga, which is a riff on campy soap operas. The idea was realized in collaboration with the American artist Sarah Baker and the U.K.-based art and fashion journal Baroness Magazine.
Narratively constructed as a letter to Donatella herself, the six-part micro-soap tells the story of “Angelina” (played by Baker), the CEO of Narcissist Records who has been accused of failing to properly credit a writer on her label’s latest smash-hit “Spritz Me With You Love.”
The accusation proves true, but the other writer is Angelina’s one-time boy toy, named Angelo. Angelo, of course, is believed to be dead after having driven straight off of a cliff. Angelina, of course, soon suspects that her chief rival The Baroness, played by Helena Christensen is to blame. If this all sounds ridiculous and super soapy, well, that’s the point.
You can probably guess that Angelo is not dead (he’s played by the male model Jonathan Saxby). The world’s sexiest “computer geek” (played by Simonas Pham) and Angelina’s ingenue daughter (played by Meghan Roche) also figure in.
The clip not only features a glorious amount of Versace fashion, but a copious serving of other assorted Versace consumer items as well. There’s Versace silverware, a Versace pool float, a Versace volleyball, a Versace ash tray, Versace martini glasses, and… well, you get the picture.
A director’s cut of the entire narrative has already been released, and Versace has unleashed the first full episode on their YouTube channel.
The actual print edition of Baroness will feature an accompanying editorial, which hints at being even steamier.
While Versace is unabashed in its embrace of over-the-top luxury, at this point it’s no surprise that Donatella continues to deliver it with a little bit of a knowing wink and a whole lot of camp. This is the label that reunites supermodels and has Jennifer Lopez close its shows (it is also the brand that makes Shalom Harlow dance).
Versace knows the value of spectacle and drama. So, a fresh take on the soap opera is fitting.
Indeed, as knowingly ridiculous as the narrative is, The Versace Saga gives us every single thing we need out of a soap (sex, scandal, and splendor). While we’re not actually holding out hope for a Versace+ streaming service, maybe Quibi can order up a second season. They do seem to be green lighting everything right now.
