Uvenio salutes the Italians: Dolce and Gabbana: Part 2

I Love Dolce and Gabbana!

Dolce & Gabbana (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdoltʃe e ɡabˈbaːna]) is an Italian luxury industry fashion house. The company was started by Italian designers Domenico Dolce (born 13 August 1958 in Polizzi Generosa, Sicily) and Stefano Gabbana (born 14 November 1962 in Milan). By 2005 their turnover was €597 million, The two met in Milan in 1980 and worked for the same fashion house. In 1982 they established a designer consulting studio; in time it grew to become “Dolce & Gabbana”. They presented their first women’s collection in 1985  in Milan, where a year later their store would open its doors. (Dolce & Gabbana 2011).

 

Two years later they launched their leotard line, and in 1989 they began designing underwear and swimming costumes (Domenico). Dolce and Gabbana started to export their products to Japan and other countries like the U.S., where they founded their own showroom in 1990 (Gabbana, Stephano 2011). In 1992, the same year they presented their men’s collection, they also launched their first perfume Dolce & Gabbana (Dolce & Gabbana 2011). They won the Woolmark award in 1991, and the prize “most feminine flavor of the year” in 1993 (Dolce & Gabbana 2007). They won an Oscar for best male perfume in 1996. Towards the end of the 1990s their sales were around 500 million dollars and in 2003 alone their revenue reached 633.2 million dollars (Gabbana, Stephano 2011). 

The Design House 

Domenico Dolce was born on 13 August 1958 in Polizzi Generosa, Sicily. Stefano Gabbana was born on 14 November 1962 in Milan. Dolce first began designing and tailoring his own clothing at the age of six. The two first met over the phone when Dolce called the fashion house Gabbana was working for, inquiring about employment. After being hired by the firm, Gabbana took Dolce under his wing and taught him how the design process for a fashion house worked as well as how to sketch new designs. Soon after Dolce's hiring Gabbana was conscribed to 18 months of mandatory military service, but after his return in 1982 they established a designer consulting firm.

 

As they were working together they would always invoice separately, until a bookkeeper recommended to them that they should invoice together to make things simpler and more cost effective. The two began to invoice clients as Dolce and Gabbana, which became the name of their developing design business. The first collection from the design duo was shown in October of 1985  alongside five other new Italian labels as a part of Milan Fashion Week. The two did not have money for models, so they sought help from their friends; nor did they have money to accessorize their models, so their models simply wore their personal items to complement the clothing. They also used a bed sheet that Dolce had brought from home as their stage curtain.

The design duo labeled their first collection Real Women, due in part to the use of amateur local women on the runway. Their sales from their first collection were disappointing enough for Gabbana to cancel the fabric order they'd put in to create their second collection. However Dolce's family offered to help pay for their costs as the two visited them in Sicily over Christmas, and the fabric company did not receive the cancellation notice in time--so the fabric was ready for them back in Milan upon their returnl They produced their next collection in 1986 and opened their first store that same year. Michael Gross wrote of their third collection in a 1992 interview, stating that "they were a secret known only to a handful of Italian fashion editors.

 

 Their few models changed behind a rickety screen. They called their collection of T-shirt-cotton and elastic-silk pieces Transformation”. Their clothing in this collection came with instructions on the seven different ways a piece could be worn in an outfit, as the wearer could use Velcro and snaps to alter the clothing’s form.

Their fourth collection was the first to make a significant impact on the Italian fashion market. In this collection Dolce drew upon his Sicilian roots. The advertising campaign collection was shot by photographer Fernando Scianna on location in Sicily, in black and white pictures inspired by the Italian cinema of the 1940s. They continued the use of Italian cinema as inspiration in their fifth collection, drawing on the work of filmmaker Luchino Visconti and his film The Leopard.

One of the pieces from their fourth collection was labeled "The Sicilian Dress" by the fashion press, and was named by author Hal Rubenstein as one of the 100 most important dresses ever designed. It is considered to be the most representative piece of this era for the brand. Rubenstein described the piece in 2012 by writing, “The Sicilian dress is the essence of Dolce & Gabbana, the brand’s sartorial touchstone.

 

The dress takes its cue from a slip—but it’s a slip that’s adorned Anna Magnani, and it’s a silhouette that has graced Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, [and so forth]. The straps fit tight to the body just as bra straps would; the neckline runs straight across but gets waylaid at least twice, once on each side to caress each breast and in the middle to meet an uplifting tuck that’s giving a gentle push up. The slip doesn’t just slide down, but comes in at the waist to hold the figure firmly but not too tightly and then widens to emphasize the hips, only to fall with a slight taper at the knees to guarantee that the hips will sway when the wearer walks."

 

Late 1980s and early 1990s

In 1987 the duo launched a separate knitwear line, and in 1989 they started designing a lingerie line and a beachwear line. Then in 1990 they launched their first men's collection. That year they also moved the design house into its first official offices and began to design gowns and other more expensive pieces in addition to their original clothing. Their 1990 Spring/Summer women's collection referenced the mythological painting of Raphael, and the duo began to build a reputation for crystal-encrusted clothing. The 1991 Fall/Winter women's collection was also adorned by trinkets, including filigree medals and embellished corsets. The 1992 Fall/Winter women's collection was then inspired by the silver screen of the 1950s, though the collection still included crystal embellished body suits.

 

By 1991 their men's collection was awarded the Woolmark Award for the most innovative men's collection of the year.  What is considered to be their first foray into international recognition came when Madonna wore a corset made of gemstones and accompanying jacket from Dolce & Gabbana to the premiere of Truth or Dare: In Bed with Madonna at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. The duo then partnered with Madonna in 1993 to design over 1500 costumes for the artist's Girlie Show international tour in support of her 1992 album Erotica.

 

In an interview about the costumes, Madonna stated that, “Their clothes are sexy with a sense of humor—like me.” In 1994, the house’s trademark double-breasted jacket was named “La Turlington” after model Christy Turlington. That same year the company launched its second main line--D&G, a line aimed at younger individuals. In 1996 the D&G runway show only appeared only on the Internet and not the runway, in an experimental move towards new media. That year Dolce & Gabbana also designed the costumes for the film Romeo + Juliet.

 

In terms of the film industry, both Dolce and Gabbana appeared in the 1995 film L’Uomo delle Stelle (The Starmaker) by director Giuseppe Tornatore, playing minor roles as extras.

 

They appeared in more significant cameo roles in Rob Marshall’s film-adaptation Nine. As stylists, they also worked on the music video Girl Panic! by Duran Duran.

In terms of their market expansion in the 1990s, in 1989 Dolce & Gabbana signed an agreement with the Kashiyama group to open their first boutique in Japan. They released their first fragrance for women in 1992, called "Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme", which was awarded the Perfume Academy's 1993 award for best feminine fragrance of the year. Their first male fragrance, "Dolce & Gabbana pour Homme", was the recipient of the best masculine fragrance of the year award from the same Academy in 1995.

 

That year Dolce & Gabbana's collections caused a controversy with the British and Italian press, when they selected the American gangster motif as inspiration for their work.  Dolce & Gabbana transposed this Fall/Winter 1995 inspiration onto women's wear, which critics stated brought an erotic edge to the clothing. The duo had used the motif before as well.

 

 In 1992 photographer Steven Meisel shot an ad campaign for the house in which the models posed in “gangster chic”. This included wide-lapelled 1930s style coats and black leather caps.
Author Nirupama Pundir stated that, “Dolce & Gabbana, with their superfeminine and fantastical style, broke away from the serious and sober-minded fashions that dominated during much of the Nineties."

2000s

Dolce & Gabbana continued to work with Madonna, designing the costumes for her Drowned World Tour international tour in 2001, in support of her 2000 album Music.  They also designed costumes for the international tours of Missy Elliot, Beyonce, and Mary J. Blige.

 

 In 1999 the duo appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in support of singer Whitney Houston, who used the show to debut the Dolce & Gabbana designed costumes for her My Love is Your Love tour, considered by fashion and music critics to be unusually risqué.^[ The duo continued to design costumes for musical artists through the 2000s, including the costumes for Kylie Minogue's Showgirl Homecoming tour. Madonna also participated in Dolce & Gabbana's 2010 advertising campaigns.

 

In the 2000s Dolce & Gabbana took a great deal of inspiration from the sport of football as well. In 2003 the men's line took its main inspiration from the world's great football stars. Other forms of art were taking inspiration from Dolce & Gabbana too. In 2003 dance music artist Frankie Knuckles said that the fashion house was a “great barometer” for trends in both fashion and music.

 

 As for their impact on the design world, in 2002 the corsets that were a key part of early Dolce & Gabbana designs were being re-discovered by many of Europe's main designers as a coming trend. In recent years Dolce & Gabbana has begun holding private viewings of their new collections for buyers, in order to sell their collections before they become public and in order to pre-empt the copying of their designs by fast fashion companies.

In 2012 D&G was merged with Dolce & Gabbana in order to strengthen the main line. The final independent D&G collection occurred in the Spring/Summer 2012 collection shown in September of 2011.The New Yorker published in 2005 that, “Dolce and Gabbana are becoming to the two-thousands what Prada was to the nineteen-nineties and Armani was to the nineteen-eighties—gli stilisti whose sensibility defines the decade.”^[

 

As for personal awards, in both 1996 and 1997 Dolce & Gabbana were named by FHM as the designers of the year. In 2003 GQ Magazine named Dolce & Gabbana among their "Men of the Year". The following year readers of British Elle voted Dolce & Gabbana the best international designers at the 2004 Elle Style Awards.^[ Dolce & Gabbana celebrated the 20th anniversary of their brand on June 19, 2010 at the Piazza della la Scala and Palazzo Marino in Milan. 

 

A public exhibition was also held the following day that included a room in which several dozen televisions were piled haphazardly upon each other, each showing a different one of the design house’s previous collections going back over its twenty year history.

Brands

 

Dolce & Gabbana had two central lines (D&G and Dolce & Gabbana) until 2012, when the lines merged under the label Dolce & Gabbana.

Dolce&Gabbana

 

Dolce&Gabbana (spelled without spaces, unlike the name of the company) specializes in luxury items influenced more by designers and is more formal and 'timeless', responding to long-term trends as well as seasonal changes.  It also sells sunglasses and corrective eye wear, purses, and watches. In   In February 2010, it was announced that American singer Madonna would design a collection of sunglasses titled MDG, set to be released in May of that year. It also has a set of fragrances for men and women. An example is 'The One' which is a perfume by Dolce&Gabbana.

D & G was a casual line that follows an urban inspiration and attempts to set trends rather than follow them. It is the younger, more flamboyant diffusion line of the brand. Unlike Dolce&Gabbana, D&G sells watches as well as clothing. In 2011, Dolce & Gabbana decided to abolish the D & G-line in order to put "more strength and energy" into their other collections.

Other Lines

Dolce & Gabbana created a bridal collection, but only between 1992 and 1998. The Dolce & Gabbana Home Collection--started in 1994--was also discontinued in 1999, with the exception of unique pieces being created for D&G premises.

 

The first women's beachwear collection was developed in 1989, followed by the first men's beachwear collection in 1992. D&G launched an eyewear line in 1998 and a timepieces line in 2000. That same year D&G launched both a men's and women's underwear collection, separate from their Dolce & Gabbana lingerie collection..

 

In 2001 they launched the D&G Junior line for children. In 2006 the duo launched the Anamalier line of leopard print accessories for women, and in 2007 they launched a line of crocodile travel cases for men. Other bags produced by the house include the Miss Sicily tote bag,and the “Dolce” bag, offered in straw and leather. 

  

In 2009 they launched their first line of color cosmetics,with Scarlett Johansson as the face of the advertising campaign.  Dolce & Gabbana launched its first line of fine jewellery in late 2011 with an 80 piece line including bejewelled rosaries, charm bracelets, and necklaces.^[ Dolce & Gabbana have receive several awards for their fragrances, as was described in the above sections. There current fragrances include: "The One", "Sport", "Light Blue", "Classic", "Sicily", "The One Rose", and the original scents "Pour Homme" and "Parfum." 

Sports

 

Dolce & Gabbana has designed the on-field attire for AC Milan since 2004. In addition to having their on-field uniforms designed by Dolce & Gabbana, the players of AC Milan also dress in team-issued Dolce & Gabbana attire when at official functions off the field.The duo also designed the off-field suits for the Italian National Football Team.In 2010 Dolce & Gabbana signed a three year deal with the Chelsea Football Club to design and provide the club’s on- and off-field uniforms and attire.

 

The deal included the creation of clothing for female staff members in addition to male staff members and the players themselves. The off-field outfits designed for the club included a dark blue suit featuring the lion symbol on the breast pocket. The designers also re-designed the club’s director’s lounge and main office reception area. Dolce & Gabbana are also the named sponsors of the Milano Thunder Italian Boxing Team. 

Inspirations and style

Originally inspired by eclectic, thrift shop Bohemia, Dolce & Gabbana's deeply colored, animal prints have been described as "haute hippy dom" taking inspiration in particular from Italy's prestigious film history. "When we design it's like a movie (Domenico)," says Domenico Dolce. "We think of a story and we design the clothes to go with it (Domenico)." They claim to be more concerned about creating the best, most flattering clothes than sparking trends, once admitting that they wouldn't mind if their only contribution to fashion history was a black bra (Dolce and Gabbana 2007).

D & G trademarks include underwear-as-outerwear (such as corsets and bra fastenings), gangster boss pinstripe suits, and extravagantly printed coats. Meanwhile their feminine collections are always backed by powerful ad campaigns, like the black-and-white ads, featuring model Marpessa photographed by Ferdinando Scianna in 1987 (Dolce & Gabbana). "They find their way out of any black dress, any buttoned-up blouse (Domenico)," says Rossellini. "The first piece of theirs I wore was a white shirt, very chaste, but cut to make my breasts look as if they were bursting out of it (Domenico)."

Once dubbed the "Gilbert and George of Italian fashion' Dolce and Gabbana gave their fashion interests a musical turn in 1996, by recording their own single, in which they intoned the words "D&G is love" over a techno beat (Dolce & Gabbana 2011). Newer to the design game than other heavyweight Italian fashion houses such as Versace and Armani, the pair acknowledge that luck has played its part in their phenomenal success. By 1997, their company reported a turnover of 400 million, prompting both designers to announce that they planned to retire by the age of 40 – a promise they did not keep (Domenico).

Books by Dolce & Gabbana

In addition to designing clothing, Dolce & Gabbana have co-authored nearly two dozen books that feature photographic narratives as well as collections of their own work. The proceeds of many of these books go to charities including the Children’s Action Network and the Butterfly Onlus “école sans frontières” Foundation. The following is a bibliography of their literary works over 40 coffee table books of Campioni and David Gandy (follows the life of male model David Gandy for a full year!)