Naomi Campbell leads bold Versace runway in Milan

MILAN: On a catwalk featuring Naomi Campbell, Gigi Hadid and Irina Shayk, Italian design house Versace presented a bold, multi-faceted collection for women on Friday.

As she had done for the men's collection, artistic director Donatella Versace opened the spring and summer show, with airy windbreaker jackets in green, purple and blue.

They were matched with leggings and rucksacks and parachute-like dresses in high-tech fabrics, giving a sports flair to a part of the collection, mostly in black purple and green.

Other parts of the show included thinly pleated creations with knitted details or fluid silk dresses and skirts with optical patterns which included the brand's fret motif.

In a rare cameo, Naomi Campbell walked in a athleisure look with a layered blue and red wraparound skirt with matching cropped blouse with a zipper. She wore knee-high laced blue and red boots and carried a rucksack.

For a complete change of style for the evening, Versace woman changed into clear-cut, black designs, with short dresses and skin tights suits, embellished by crystal details giving off metallic reflections.

A red net dress with sequins stood out from the total black looks on show on the third day of Milan fashion week.

The models strutted along a zig-zag shaped catwalk to the beat of electronic music.

"This show is for women taking chances. Take a leap," spoke a women's voice over the pounding rhythm.

The brand famous for its Medusa head logo, in May named Jonathan Akeroyd, the former head of British brand Alexander McQueen, as its new chief executive in an unexpected move ahead of a planned stock market listing.

Milan fashion week runs until Monday and Italian brands Blumarine and Ermanno Scervino will showcase their collections on Saturday.