Hailey Bieber Dials Up the Archival Glamour in Vintage Versace

As the fashion world eagerly anticipates a new Versace era under its recently appointed creative director, Pieter Mulier, Hailey Bieber is ushering us back to the label’s unapologetically glamorous heyday. At a Vogue Australia event today, the Rhode mogul channeled capital-V Versace in a look plucked straight from the mid-aughts archives.

FBieber and her stylist Dani Michelle sourced a butter yellow spring 2006 look from Raffe Vintage, a dazzling piece originally unveiled on the brand’s men’s runway that season. With its plunging neckline, liquid-satin skirt, and crystal-studded chainmail bodice, the design distilled peak noughties Versace glamour. Intricate beadwork traced the bust and hips, while a ruffled chiffon inlay spilled down the front of the skirt for added movement and drama.

Though vintage Versace has been a recurring feature of Bieber’s style—she wore another Donatella-era grail for her 29th birthday in November—this latest archival pull arrives at a particularly pivotal moment for the house. n December, Versace announced that Dario Vitale would depart the brand less than a year after becoming the first designer outside the Versace family to take the reins following Gianni and Donatella. Vitale ultimately presented just one collection at Milan Fashion Week, a showing that gained cult industry status and has become red carpet fodder for pop stars and fashion girls alike.

Earlier this month, Versace announced that Pieter Mulier, who previously designed for Alaïa, would take the creative reins starting in July. Mulier has yet to address the news (he’s presenting his final Alaïa collection at Paris Fashion Week next month), but the chairman of Versace, Lorenzo Bertelli, called the Belgian the “right person for the brand.”

Though Versace is poised to enter a new chapter under Mulier, Bieber proved today that the magnetic pull of the house’s high-gloss archive remains impossible to rival.