Versace’s last catwalk show in September paid tribute to its late founder, Gianni, on the 20th anniversary of his death by bringing out his most famous archive pieces and reuniting the supermodels that became synonymous with his brand in a spectacular grand finale.

Donatella Versace in Milan on Friday. Photograph: Alessandro Garofalo/Reuters

So great was its impact that the outing not only stole all the headlines at Milan Fashion Week, but was crowned the show of the entire season by the fashion press, while pictures – taken in a frenzy by those in attendance or screenshot from the live stream and posted on social media were all over the internet. So, how to follow that up? “What I wanted to show with this collection is the different Versace women through the years and today,” Donatella Versace revealed at a preview of the collection in Milan on Saturday afternoon, entitled The Clans of Versace.

A creation from Versace’s autumn/winter collection. Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters

There’s no shortage of material to reference for this, from the power blazers and statement prints of the 1990s to the clashing colour palettes and gold embellishment so synonymous with this house – updated versions of which are all present in this collection. The Versace glamazons were also on show, showing their strength in numbers strutting two by two and three by three, wearing fringed miniskirts and draped bandeau column dresses topped off with sunglasses and headscarves.

On the runway at Versace’s autumn/winter show. Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters

As for moving it forward, Versace is clearly no stranger to the power of millennial consumers and what they want – as the show notes acutely observed: “The insta moment is everything.” Versace ticked this box today with trainers (to please “the sneaker geeks”), football scarves, logoed sweaters and T-shirts (like last season) and all-over plaid skirt suits that tapped into the insatiable demand for 1990s nostalgia.

As with the September show, the thread of family was a strong one. Included in the collection was a plaid named after the greater Versace family, which was a tribute to kinship. The brand is said still to be looking for a designer to join this family. Former Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci was thought to be a shoo-in, with an announcement said only to be delayed by a stringent non-compete clause in his previous contract. However, talks were said to have broken down last summer and all has been quiet on that front since.

Whoever it is will have a tough remit to fulfil. The brand experienced a loss of €7.4m at the end of 2016, compared with to a profit of €15.3m in 2015. The disparity, however, didn’t seem to faze the company, which attributed it to heavy investments and reorganisation.

The CEO, Jonathan Ackeroyd, who joined in 2016, is central to this restructure. Having overseen the international expansion of British brand Alexander McQueen for 12 years between 2004 and 2016, he is credited by Versace with being “a strong and savvy brand-builder”.