BEAUTY: Clothing--Dolce and Gabbana

Hot on the heels of Pitti Uomo in Florence, we have Milano Moda Uomo. And we can always count on Domenico Dolce and Steffano Gabbana to mine the rich cultural, social, topographical, religious, and visual culture of Italy, and in particular, their homeland of Sicily.

For this collection of 80 looks (D & G have always been prolific), a sense of the sea and shore and prints with Sicilian citrus and antique postcards waft through woven jackets and eyelet lace pants and shirts ... it is called "Sicilian Vacation" after all. And although the collection starts off with plenty of looks in black (very Catholic of them), it blossoms into something from the heyday of Italian cinema, between the 1950s to the 1970s. There's a bit of "La Dolce Vita" (look at the cuts of some of the trousers and suiting) and a bit of 1970s mod prints. There are plenty of jackets, shirts, and pants encrusted with beads and jewels. The addition of easy-breezy beachwear makes it a holiday. Tutto fantastico!

And take a look at the incredible, over-the-top beaded and encrusted shoes, looking like altar pieces from a Baroque church. Some feature the coral motif seen on garments! Click on the photos below for a jaw-dropping close-up!

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Dolce and Gabbana

At Milano Moda Uomo, Dolce and Gabbana showed a collection of 100 looks (!) for Fall-Winter '26-'27 and they are all, of course, sumptuous.

Domenico Dolce and Stafano Gabbana traditionally use some sort of Italian cultural or historical reference as an inspiration for their collections. And while not a specific place in Italy or an era in Italian history, this collection celebrated their usual sartorial magic: it is an ode to Italian tailoring and quality. The collection is titled "Portrait of Man" and is about individuality in style. All the garments shown are intended to shuffled, layered, changed, swapped... personalized for each wearer.

"There are no trends in today’s fashion; everything is so fragmented," they commented before the show. "We wanted to celebrate individuality, the stories and singularities behind every man, the complexities of his inner world, his memories, his humanity. There’s no single way to be a man... There are as many possibilities as there are men, and each one deserves its own portrait."

Loose tailoring, tight tailoring, casual, formal (I love the cummerbunds worn more as corsets on tuxedoes), voluminous sweaters and jackets and coats, even pajamas, I love it all, especially the faux-fur coats and jackets (thank you D&G for avoiding real fur!). But something else I see here, something subtle, is a cut and silhouette I see often and love in Armani collections: a shadow, an echo of historical fashion. The way a jacket or coat is cut or its stance, the inclusion of waistcoats, belted outerwear, loose cut and high waisted trousers...it all reminds me of the 1920's, 30s, and 40s. Some pieces even have a Romantic reference about them, evoking the 1880s and 1890s...it is all supremely elegant, capturing the Italian style of dressing with that remarkable sense of sprezzatura.

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/

Dolce and Gabbana Alta Moda/Alta Sartoria 2025

Wow, please take the time to watch the video of this jaw-dropping show of Dolce and Gabbana's most recent Alta Moda collection for women inspired by the culture, architecture, and imagery of ancient and 1950s Rome, presented at the Roman Forum itself! At sunset, a hundred-plus extras dressed in costumes from Fellini's "Satyricon" filled the show space where models paraded looks made of breastplates and sections of Roman soldier armor or skinny cocktail dresses from the Dolce Vita era when Rome was reborn after WW II and Anita Ekberg frolicked in the Trevi Fountain. Each piece is literally a one-of-a-kind work of art...if a client buys one, it is the only one in existence.

And not to be outdone by the spectacle, D&G showed their Alta Sartoria collection (the men's version) the next evening, also at sunset, at the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. Inspired by the Catholic Church, the collection is a wild riff on ecclesiastical clothing surpassing anything even the Vatican could produce! Models, each wearing glasses and hair set in pincurls like cherubs, walked out of the Castel and down a gold carpet shaped, appropriately enough, like a cross while assembled cardinals in red watched from plinths on the Ponte Sant'Angelo.

And take a look at this short glimpse into the making of one of the looks...the quality is mind boggling.

https://altamoda.dolcegabbana.com/

I would bet money that D&G have seen--and were inspired by--the famous (infamous) Vatican fashion show segment from Fellini's incredible mockumentary travelogue "Roma." It is at once hilarious and absolutely terrifying, quite on purpose.

BEAUTY: Clothing--Dolce and Gabbana

I once spent an evening out on the town in Las Vegas in a set of navy blue and red paisley silk pajamas...and a black leather trench coat. So it is in that spirit that I share with you Dolce and Gabbana's Spring Summer '26 collection just shown at Milano Moda Uomo. The D&G version of pajamas come in humble cotton, not silk, for ease. Striped and piped, these pajama tops and bottoms and shorts came down the runway on their own, or under blazers, coats, or faux fur cover-ups. But this being a Dolce and Gabbana show, the last many looks saw pajama sets embellished with stunning embroidery and jewels. At the end of the show, the models left the runway and walked right out into the streets of Milan to do a turn in their furry slippers and flip flops, as if to say "Pajamas are now officially part of everyday wear."

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Dolce and Gabbana

For their Fall-Winter '25-'26 show at Milano Moda Uomo, Dolce and Gabbana, who always use some sort of Italian cultural or historical reference in their collections, reached back to the 1960 Italian film "La Dolce Vita" starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg. The director of that film, Federico Fellini (previously here) invented the word "paparazzi" which was used in "La Dolce Vita" to describe pesky photographers who always buzz around, causing annoyance: the word is Italian slang for a mosquito.

And this collection titled simply "Paparazzi" follows celebrities ogled by ranks of photographers through their day, going from casual (lots of faux fur--it is a fall-winter collection after all--denim with an amazing sequined burgundy blazer in look #6 below, and silhouettes which reference the 1930s and 40s) to red carpet (there are some gorgeous, soft, flowing takes on tuxedo dressing paired with some oversized jewel-encrusted brooches).

https://www.dolcegabbana.com/