RUNWAY: Versace FW14

Versace is looking for investors and though rumors of an IPO have been whirling around the company for years, even before Gianni Versace's untimely death, it's an option that's still on the table after the successful IPOs of fellow Italian labels like Moncler, Brunello Cuchinelli, Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo. If Donatella Versace's pitch to possible investors is the house's FW14 collection, then it may attract the monied gay contingent more than any other labels previously mentioned.

Versace proffered muscular men in cowboy-inspired wears for FW14. The result was, for lack of a better word, fabulous. It recalled the heyday of gay discos in the 70s and 80s, prior to the onslaught of AIDS, with a strong dose of the Wild West. Gold, leather, fur and flamboyance has always been Versace's claim to fame; all of that and more was shown today, a triumph in its presentation and execution. There was also a small thread of androgyny in the collection, like slender cut jackets paired with fluid pants or flow-knits and accessories wrapped around the neck to fly in the wind. There was also a plethora of bags with gold chains and wristlets with handcuffs as a lanyard: subversive and feminine.