Dario Vitale's Dualisms In The Domestic Setting Of Versace's Spring Summer 2026 Collection at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana

Versace staged its Spring Summer 2026 collection inside Milan’s Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the city’s oldest art museum and a 17th-century palazzo that once served as a private residence. The setting felt less like a show venue and more like a home—intimate and lived-in.

Across two floors of historic salons, set designer Andrea Faraguna transformed the museum into a dream of domestic life. Masterpieces as backdrop, while each room offered a glimpse into a narrative of a life lived: a dining table crowned with a champagne tower, mirrored corridors humming with reflection, bedrooms scattered with yellowing papers and magazines. At the center, in the Sala Della Medusa, a marble bust of the mythic figure presided—a reminder of Versace’s enduring emblem and the tension between beauty, danger, and power.

This mise-en-scène captured Dario Vitale’s evolving vision for the House: the dialogue between modernity and heritage, sensuality and intellect, generosity and restraint.

The atmosphere was shaped by a soundscape from Terraforma, the Milan-based collective known for bending sound and space into one. Voices drifted through the rooms; the hiss of radio static and the echo of footsteps gave way to a shifting mix of music curated with Car Culture (New York DJ Daniel Fisher, aka Physical Therapy). From Handel to Morricone, Prince to Laurie Anderson, Madonna to the Eurythmics—the playlist pulsed with movement and memory, tracing the same rhythm that runs through Versace itself: emotional, unpredictable, alive.

Watch Magliano's SS22 Digital Presentation For Milan Fashion Week

There are four humoral fluids: Melancholic, Sanguine, Phlegmatic, Choleric. These are the temperaments of Magliano's Spring/Summer 2022 characters, inspired by Hippocrates' Humoral Theory. A mash up of new appearances, the central role of upcycling introduced through fabrics recycled from past seasons, new organic dyes and stylistic pastiches. The collection is enriched by a daily gesture of typical Italian good luck charms: the classic broken heart, the chains dedicated to Saint Sebastian, the lucky baby tooth. 

This change of temperaments is the core narrative of the video presented for Milan Fashion Week. The models walk on a white limbo in a melancholic/phlegmatic way, gradually becoming more and more agitated and syncopated. This escalation is guided by the wind of a cinematographic machine, which more and more insistently gives drama to the walk. The choreographer Michele Rizzo organises the movements and their transformation, Tommaso Ottomano films the show, and the music is left to the improvisation of Edoardo Lovazzi, a young 12-year-old drummer.

 
 

Read Autre's Favorites from Milan Fashion Week

Oh, Italy. The land of luxury behemoths. Young fashion people scoff at Milan, but Milan is planting itself once more at the forefront of conceptual fashion. Versace and Prada will always be doing their thing. Damir Doma decided to leave the herd of Paris and create his architectural garments in Italy. Arthur Arbesser is injecting youth and idea-driven fashion into the city revitalizing Iceberg and launching his own brand. And, less we forget, Alessandro Michele is the hottest designer in fashion at Gucci. It feels like people are ready for Italian fashion again, and they certainly want Gucci to be relevant again. We’ve had so many years of “cool” and “arty” brands out of Paris and London that maybe the coolest thing to do right now is to pay heed to the luxury giants of Italy. It’s hip to be square, motherfuckers. Click here to read the full review.