Who else but Donatella Versace could orchestrate Claudia Schiffer’s return to the runway? When Schiffer strutted down the runway tonight at Versace’s spring/summer 2024 show in Milan, it marked the German supermodel’s first time on the catwalk since she closed the brand’s spring/summer 2018 show alongside Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen. (When she’s not on the runway, Schiffer is keeping busy as an executive producer; her film Argylle with Henry Cavill, John Cena and Samuel L Jackson is due out in February.)
Schiffer marked the milestone with an appropriately glamorous look: a checkerboard mint green and silver metal mesh column dress embellished with crystal beads, and finished with silver Gianni ribbon pumps. “It’s basically moulded onto my body. It fits me like a glove,” she said ahead of the show. While a momentous occasion, Schiffer wasn’t feeling much pre-show pressure. “I always stay really healthy. I work out, and make sure I get a good night’s rest,” she told Vogue shortly before heading to the show. “Other than that, I’m just myself.”
Part of her comfort level comes from her decades-long friendship with Donatella. “Donatella is just a wonderful, warm-hearted, gentle, genuine, nice person who really does care,” Schiffer said. “It’s like you’re coming into a warm hug of the Versace family. I always really look forward to it. It’s just more than just a fashion show and ad campaign. It’s much more than that.”
In preparation for the show, Schiffer dug through her archive of Versace clothing. “My favourite ones are in the metallic, light blue, light pink, gold collection. It’s miniskirts with little sweaters and high knee boots in matching colours to your sweater, so it could be a whole look,” she says, referencing Versace’s autumn/winter 1994 collection. (Schiffer, Nadja Auermann, Cindy Crawford, Stephanie Seymour, Christy Turlington and Bridget Hall were photographed in these looks by Richard Avedon – the photo in question was featured in his recent retrospective “Avedon 100”.) Schiffer, who was gifted several of these looks by Gianni and Donatella, even brought them with her to Milan, and wore them for photos before the show. “It’s such a flashback to the early ’90s,” she said. “The weird thing is, you can wear it again today. It’s fashion today.”
Schiffer’s runway return feels perfectly timed with the cultural resurgence of the supermodels, whose ethos she feels is being embraced by the new generation. “It’s been wonderful to see younger generations embrace what we did,” she said. “Something I loved about the time was that, beyond modelling and fashion, we were able to champion female ambition and were symbols of self-made success.” It’s something she’s hoping to impart to her own 18-year-old daughter, Clementine, who is starting to express an interest in fashion. “This is Clemmy’s first time watching a fashion show, this first feeling of being in the fashion industry and she is extremely excited.”
For her daughter, the next generation of models, and even aspiring models, Claudia Schiffer has some sage wisdom: “Take pride in being professional, know what you want, and where you want to be. Definitely do not give up,” she says. “And get a good lawyer.”
