heidiilliams's blog

Riccardo Tisci is on a roll.

Givenchy's pioneering creative director has done more than just transform Kim Kardashian into a Certified Fashion Star — he's opened the doors for a diverse range of fashion models, including older women (Julia Roberts) and transgender models (Lea T), and established a new normal in the fashion industry by being the first to cast such unconventional campaign stars.

Now the 40-year-old Italian designer is pushing boundaries once again with another unlikely collaborator: Donatella Versace. Tisci recruited the 60-year-old vice president of the Versace Group to star in his autumn 2015 campaign, an unusual move considering the two brands — Givenchy and Versace — are, for all intents and purposes, competitors.

But this doesn't seem to be a problem for Versace, who posted the first look at the campaign on the Versace brand's official Instagram account with the caption, "I believe in breaking rules. Riccardo Tisci is extremely talented and above all my dear friend. We are family. I want to get rid of the old system, work together, support each other and make fashion a true global community."

Tisci too, posted an Instagram of the campaign — which was shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot and styled by Carine Roitfeld — in which he refers to Versace as "a personal muse of mine, my one and only #DONATELLAVERSACE."

In a separate post, Tisci revealed another look at the "Family" campaign (a repeated theme mentioned in his "Fashion Gang" editorial spread for Vogue Japan earlier this week) which juxtaposes the photo of Versace with a slew of models adorned in his black facial jewelry from his fall 2015 show "having a private party in a Countryside Victorian house."

The positive social media response thus far (not to mention how incredible Versace looks in the black-and-white shot) could mean that casting competitors as campaign stars might just be the next big trend in the industry.