With an eye towards the Orient, and their heart firmly beating in Sicily, for the Spring Summer 2016 menswear collection Dolce&Gabbana create a unique marriage of modern chinoiserie aesthetic with the passion of the Mediterranean.
Take your front-row seat and watch the Dolce&Gabbana Summer 2016 Men’s Fashion Show.
Sicily is a true melting pot of cultures, with so many different
peoples having conquered and chosen to stay on the Mediterranean island,
from Ancient Greeks to Moors and of course Normans and Spanish. The
unique culture of Sicily, with its picturesque traditions, the small yet
highly fascinating Italian region is a constant inspiration to artists
everywhere, from photography to cinema, and of course fashion.
Dolce&Gabbana continue with their journey through Sicily, with
its beauty and foreign influences, in the Spring Summer 2016 menswear
collection, drawing inspiration from a very different sort of context.
Set within a grand park in Palermo lays a unique building, a pastiche of
Sicilian traditions, chinoiserie and some Indian and Turkish art thrown
in for good measure.
This Chinese Palace (Palazzina or Casina Cinese)
was commissioned by Fredrick I in 1799 in the very popular late Rococo
style of Chinoiserie.
Dolce&Gabbana have delved into this art, and examined the way the
Sicilians did their very own form of chinoiserie, and from this unique
way of interpreting art, colour and dimensions, Domenico Dolce and
Stefano Gabbana create a collection rich in modern chinoiserie, Sicilian
passion and colours, and exquisite fashion.
With a collection inspired by chinoiserie, prints become the essential
focus of the theme, and they did not disappoint. Direct Orientalist
references were made with pretty humming birds delicately printed on
silk and jersey, majestic white peacocks emblazoned on bomber jackets
and suits, delicate finches sketched in bamboo woods.
The Palazzina
Chinese was referenced with colourful prints, reminiscent of the designs
we see in the panels of the interior and pagodas, merging typical
Sicilian iconography like the horse drawn cart design, citrus fruits
with imagined Chinese figures and dragons. To undercut the sumptuous and
intricate designs, optical prints in black and white drive home the
theme and create a directional approach to a conceptual collection.
Sumptuous designs are created in the form of embroidery too. Sinuous
silks are printed and later embroidered, as are jeans and slippers too.
Of particular note, the looks with gold seemingly traditional Chinese
golden embroidery and panels depicting a Madonna and Child, underpinning
the concept of the fashion show: the Sicilian interpretation of
chinoiserie.
Of course when it comes to tailoring, the looser jackets represent a go
between the kimono, the smocking jacket and the pajama. Primarily made
of silk, the blazers in the collection are mainly double breasted and
boxier, with a looser fit, as well as a longer silhouette. Shawl lapels
are a continuum, from the newer blazer shapes to the more traditional
tailoring, which constituted a small number of looks.
While the blazer was the more evident new shape in the collection, the
trousers in fact stole the show. From loose fitting plated trousers, to
pajama bottoms, sportswear inspired trousers, tighter printed ones and
shorts (even with a blazer), the Dolce&Gabbana Spring Summer 2016
collection incites men to think outside the box when it comes to the
denominator of their look. While we’re still a while away from the
gender bending skirts and dresses we have seen in London, here too, we
see a definite move to a more feminine aesthetic, with masculine fits of
course. A nod to Asian dress is made with a small yet perfectly formed
selection of a Sicilian interpretation of the traditional oriental suit.
Tailoring continues to be a constant in the Dolce&Gabbana
collection, with the expertise and unique way of creating a both
traditional and forward looking style, the Spring Summer 2016 finale
spoke an all-together more casual language. Worn with jeans, trousers
and shorts, the polo shirt becomes the protagonist: printed with birds,
embroidered, emblazoned with Sicilian lemons or horse drawn cart wheels,
knitted, jersey or cotton, the polo shirt is perhaps the most important
and commercial signal to come out of the collection.
While the giant rucksacks printed with seasonal motifs, and the coppola
flat caps worn with the most oriental informed looks, the true
revolution come sin the form of footwear. Gone are the boots, gone are
the brogues and derbies, and in come the slip-ons. From extravagantly
embroidered slippers to the largest variety of espadrilles ever seen in a
fashion show, Dolce&Gabbana do not want you to tie your shoes next
summer.
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