It’s been no more than five days since Dario Vitale’s departure from Versace, and the fashion world is still scratching its head. Over on High Fashion Twitter (yes, that’s still just about a thing), Vitale’s eight-month tenure was immediately memed, with rapid-thumbed homosexuals comparing the situation to an ANTM walk-off, or a camp Desperate Housewives plotline. Elsewhere, others compared his time at the house to Peter Do’s 20-month stint at Helmut Lang, Peter Hawkings’ 15-month career at Tom Ford, or Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s single season at Ann Demuelemeester, which beat Vitale on brevity at just six months.

With the Prada Group’s recent acquisition of Versace, and Vitale’s status as a former long-term employee at Miu Miu, many are speculating on what could’ve soured behind the scenes. While we may never know (despite really, really wanting to), instead we’re taking a teary-eyed look back at Vitale’s very brief tenure, which proposed a bold new vision of what Versace could be.

Back in August, the incumbent designer shocked the world by choosing Julia Roberts as his first muse, in that Venice Film Festival outfit swapping fiasco. After that was the designer’s first “expression” for the house in mid-September, a campaign-that-wasn’t-really-a-campaign featuring Binx Walton shot by Stef Mitchell, an illustration by Collier Schorr, and an archive Steven Meisel photograph. “A new expression, defining the house through the people, places and emblems that embody its values,” said the label, at the time. “An exploratory project, unearthing the essence of Versace, past, present and future.” The debut show that brought that expression to life followed on September 27, our momentary entryway into Vitale’s world that included adult rompers, bejewelled bras, nods to 80s Gianni Versace and a vibe that was altogether new but still had Versace coursing through its veins. With indie film stars like Talia Ryder and Ava Capri walking the runway, critics were heralding Vitale for putting the sexy in Versace.

Off the runway, and the stars were responding to the new clothes with glee, too. A day after the runway show Addison Rae somehow got her hands on the bejewelled bra and knickers for The Addison Tour in New York, while former Dazed cover stars like Lorde and Ramla Ali tapped Vitale for their own custom red carpet looks. Elsewhere, campaign star Joseph Quinn told us that Vitale was “brilliantly, provocatively and delicately” bringing his voice to the house, director Luna Carmoon described the new direction as “haunting and exciting”, while Italian popstar Mahmood chose Versace for a recent night out in Milan. While Vitale may be gone, he certainly isn’t forgotten, and we suspect that he’ll soon bag another top job in fashion’s never ending game of musical chairs.

Scroll through the gallery above to see Vitale’s best moments