The Dolce & Gabbana customers summoned to Milan for the unveiling of the Alta Moda Eleganza Italiana collection were in for a surprise. Usually a grand affair staged in picturesque Italian locations, this time guests were treated to an intimate tour of the ateliers and a show in the very place where the haute creations are made. It recalled the ways of the ’50s and ’60s, when couture collections were presented in rarefied salons, and private appointments were attended by a small crowd of chic, privileged ladies.
Over champagne and risotto alla milanese, the lucky clients were invited to roam, mingling with the tailors, poring over drawings and scraps of expensive fabrics, and marveling at the skills of the young craftspeople, who are trained to become the next generation of couturiers. “We wanted to receive at home, almost in famiglia, opening the doors of the atelier so our customers can experience up-close the way we work on collections, how they’re made, the skill and dedication that goes into each piece, and the humanistic value of the handmade,” Domenico Dolce explained, pleased by the appreciative reaction the event elicited.
The couture presentation had a calm, elegant rhythm. A small catwalk was placed in the busy sartoria, amidst tables where tailors were actually working, and the models walked slowly, each holding a small card with the number of the passage. The collection was an all-black statement, a somehow radical, visually dramatic choice that read as potent affirmation of the clarity and precision at the core of the Dolce & Gabbana sartorial codes. Hourglass silhouettes were outlined as if exquisitely hand-sketched on white paper. Subtly glamorous daywear sat alongside sumptuous occasion numbers. “We wanted to do a collection with no bells and whistles, no embellishments, just going back to the essence of our style,” Gabbana said. “We wanted purity, and a sense of distinction that’s at the same time molto moderno and timeless.”
A short black-and-white movie directed by Karim Sadli was the cherry on the cake. Referencing the Italian Neorealism of the ’50s, it was intended as “a love letter to a certain style, a tribute to our passion for the sartoria, and to the Italian culture of il bel vestire, to be always well turned out, no matter the circumstances,” the designers pointed out. “It’s a celebration of the idea of true Italian elegance that we treasure—classical, flattering, precious, and utterly dignified.”