As a woman, Donatella Versace knows about a wide variety of things: being a mother and accessorizing with diamonds for example. As a designer, this season she surprised us all when she schooled Milan on what women actually want to wear.

After searing their uniquely identifiable brand into the consciousness of the eighties, Versace is pulling out all the stops to bring its kingdom firmly into the 21st century. With his royal majesty, Prince holding court front row in a show hailed by critics as one of their best in recent memory, the house made admirable progress in securing their throne.

Donatella Versace is reinventing the Versace vocabulary and this season that involves paring things right down to their basics. In this unusually monochromatic collection, look for the flourish in the structure of the clothes, and the fabric.

For Spring 2006 Donatella Versace is refreshed and relaxed, and it’s rubbing off on the company. Her designs are clean, the message is crisp and the clothing is getting critical acclaim. This season, when so many others are referencing the Versace archives for inspiration, Donatella is moving the house into the future on a little desert breeze.

Donatella Versace packs a punch with her offerings for fall. Centering much of her attention on daywear, she proposes some of the freshest looks for daytime dressing. She also shifted her focus from women’s backs and legs to their upper bodies – her newest erogenous zone.

It was from a bottomless sea that Donatella Versace pulled her inspiration for her latest collection. Fresh from a stint in rehab, Donatella designed an oceanic collection with simple dresses, clean cuts and icy, cool pastels.

Everybody was talking about the strength of the French at this season’s haute couture, so where does that leave Italy’s blonde valkyrie, Donatella Versace, when she shows in Paris? After skipping the past two seasons, Donatella Versace returned to Paris with gusto. Her Atelier Versace collection for Spring 2004 was a blinding homage to bling made up of equal parts shimmer, sparkle and shine. Did we mention this was a bright collection?

One of the biggest trends of the new season is prints and that means it’s a great season for Versace. After all, look at all the archives that Donatella has to work with – fifty-five colours was the complete palette Gianni used.

Floaty chiffons in the softest pastels epitomized the incredible lightness of being at Donatella Versace's hauste couture collection for fall/winter. Donatella left all the glitz behind with her soft, sweet, sensual dresses.

Donatella Versace held a double bill this season, choosing to show her Versus and Versace collections together. In Donatella’s words, the Versace woman has two different spirits. One day she wants to be young and funky and go to avant-garde movies and rock concerts and the next day she wants to go to Cartier and buy jewelry. Whatever a woman’s mood, one of Donatella’s collections will fit the bill.

In a joint presentation, Donatella Versace showed her Versus and Versace collections for spring/summer 2003. At Versus, “Lacquered Lotitas” strutted their stuff, while at Versace it was classic Versace with colours that were hotter than hot and skirts that were shorter than short.

Crawling with celebrities, overrun by paparazzi, and teeming with fabulousness, life at the house of Versace is never quiet. But it is always sexy. For her latest haute couture collection Donatella Versace was inspired by a very stimulating place: a French boudoir.

Donatella Versace has outdone herself this season. Fun, colourful, tantilizing seductive clothes with attitude draw the stars. It's no wonder Michelle Williams and Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child are big Versace fans.

Donatella Versace has distinguished the Atelier Versace label from the rest of the couture calendar with her profound understanding of how to dress a girl for a good time. With this season's extravagant use of colour, and a gleeful indulgence in the singular pleasure of sparkles, these clothes are for any girl who has ever dreamed of casting herself as Big Top Barbie.

With her flashy rock n roll collection for spring, Donatella Versace went back to the roots of the house of Versace. Bright, sexy clothes, clinging to every curve are suggestive of the heydays of Gianni Versace; just the kind of diva clothes that attract people like J-Lo who happened to be in the audience with her new hubby.