Versace goes coast to coast with urban yet romantic Resort 2017 collection

The Italian fashion house has joined a host of luxury brands in unveiling the shape of its pre-spring 2017 collection. The Resort 2017 preview has a distinctly urban feel, laced with sportswear and romantic influences.

The starting point for this new collection from Donatella Versace is an imaginary coast-to-coast road trip in the USA, traveling from city to sunshine via plains and flower-filled prairies. The result is a collection heavy on urban pieces, lifted with hints of vibrant, electric color, and with softer pieces finished with floral motifs.

For the famous Italian designer, the collection celebrates the freedom of the Versace woman, a freedom that has been hard fought for and which remains close to her heart.

This very graphic pre-spring 2017 Versace collection stretches out a series of primary colored polo shirts with pleated panels to make sporty, urban dresses. This vibe is once again channeled through flared pants, cut just above the ankle and worn with platform shoes to liven up the look.

The collection is splashed with electric, even fluorescent colors, echoing the bright lights of New York. A reinterpretation of the Medusa head symbol is finished in vibrant shades on a knitted sweater, and colored stripes and spots embellish jackets and polo-shirt dresses.

Leather also has its place in this urban-inspired collection. Versace notably showed a series of jackets mixing leather, calfskin and patent leather with colorful patches.

Floral prints bring a softer, more romantic side to the collection, seen on shirts, pleated skirts, jackets and accessories. And as inspirations head still further west, sunsets are a theme, with short dresses with polo-shirt necklines in sunny shades of yellow and orange.

As well as presenting this new collection, the Italian luxury label has lifted the lid on its autumn/winter 2016-2017 campaign, featuring two star models of the moment -- Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss -- shot by Bruce Weber.