lifestyle
Dolce & Gabbana:
SICILY SINGS THROUGH THE FABRIC
Dolce of Palermo, Sicily, and Gabbana of Milan produced their first collection entitled “Real Women” in 1986. The fashion industry has labelled the duo as the inventors of a Mediterranean style that draws its inspiration from the women of Italian realism: sensual and austere. Think Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani - to whom they dedicated a slip dress as well as a Spring/Summer campaign in 2010. "When we design it's like a movie," says Domenico Dolce, "we think of a story and we design the clothes to go with it".
Such women are celebrated, not only for their style, but also for their talent, passion and strength. “Real Women” was the beginning of a signification that power is sex appeal. Celebration of the female form, as we have seen in the fashion industry, holds its complexities. Once power is stripped away, sex appeal becomes objectification.
However, Dolce and Gabbana’s nod to heritage, culture and passion is so evident in the transcendence from their influences to their designs. Thus, their creations act as a visual embodiment of a confidant, powerful and cultured woman. Italian, specifically Sicilian, culture remains at the forefront of the brand’s style and identity.
Sicily only became part of Italy once the nation was unified in the 1860s. Prior to this, the island was subject to various monarchic rules. As a brand, Dolce & Gabbana weave the art, armour and religious iconography from this variety of
cultural mediums into their collections.
For example, vestiges of the Catholic Norman rule in Sicily during the 11th and 12th century are still visible on the island, such as the mosaic in the Church of La Martorana in Palermo that depicts Norman King Roger II’s coronation by Christ. D & G mirrored such gold embellishment in their Autumn 2014 collection entitled “Once Upon a Time”. Silver and gold were the focus composition for the collection; Norman armour depicted through bejewelled gloves, tunics and capes embroidered with images of forest life.
Sicily’s period under Spanish rule in the early 1500s sparked the designers’ inspiration for gilded gold, kitsch detailing and romantic embroidery.
This covered their Spring/Summer collection in 2015, with Kendall Jenner leading a model parade for the finale in rich red shorts with golden embroidery.
The Sicily of the post-unification centuries plays an equal part in brand’s inspiration. We saw dresses decorated with citrus fruits, homage to the
famous Sicilian lemon, in their Spring 2012 collection; a celebration of Palermo’s vivacious vegetable market.
d&g, a/w 1998