Atelier Versace Spring 2013 | Runway

For her Spring 2013 Couture collection, Donatella Versace imposed the high-impact codes of her house — bright colors, intricate appliques, lots of skin — on strong-shouldered suits, slinky gowns, and minidresses whose hems started at mid-thigh but ended up skimming the floor.

But for all the body-conscious and curve-hugging pieces she sent down the runway (staged underneath the glass dome of the old Paris bank Le Centorial), this offering had a surprising amount of geometry in it. Kristen McMenamy opened the show in a black suit with gold pinstripes, and that linear motif was repeated elsewhere in the collection with pleated skirts, the parallel lines of quilting on a few leather motorcycle jackets, and the slim strokes of fur sewn onto a vest and a denim minidress decorated with bits of metal.

Other embellishments here included oversize crystals tucked just inside those many pleats, and neon leather tubing used to give a little structure and a lot of edge to some of the simpler dresses Versace showed. But even those dresses were fitted with pieces of mesh that showed off their wearer's legs and thighs.