“V-E-R-S-A-C-E.” A disembodied voice spelling out Versace was the sound that accompanied the house’s AW16 menswear show at Milan Fashion Week last night. “The Versace man is a pioneer, his ambition as big as the universe,” said Donatella Versace, elaborating on this season’s collection. “This is a collection for men who are totally real, totally bold and totally connected with the future.” Also connected with the future was the set of the show, which resembled something akin to a spacecraft (or else the video for Drake’s “Hotline Bling”).

But whether the set and the space-themed collection were a reference to Star Wars, or simply Donatella reflecting the revival of interest in the galactic as a result of its latest instalment, she didn’t say. In the caption to a picture posted to his Instagram account, The Business of Fashion’s editor-at-large Tim Blanks included the hashtag in reference to a different sci-fi film – Andrew Niccol’s 1998 cult movie Gattaca – but the Starfleet insignia brooches worn throughout the show pointed to yet another sci-fi reference: Star Trek.

Whatever the cinematic reference, the astrological theme was clear and it was evident throughout the MA1 jackets, tracksuits, tailoring and coats that came down the runway. There was a reworking of the house’s classic astrological print taken from the archives, space mission patches, a tweed inspired by the Milky Way, a space-age metallic fabric and a shade of grey employed that apparently reflected the colour of the moon. In keeping with the theme and in acknowledgement of David Bowie’s passing, models walked the finale to the sound of his 1969 classic “Space Oddity”.