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!
Domenico Dolce and Steffano Gabbana continue to mine the rich cultural, social, topographical, religious, and visual culture of Italy, and Sicily in particular. They have examined 18th and 19th century Italian family portraiture (seen here) and spun off the unlikely history lesson of the Norman conquest of Sicily in 1061 (seen here). They have meditated on 19th century etchings of Greco-Roman culture (seen here), explored Catholic iconography (seen here), and waxed rhapsodic about simple village life in Sicily in the early 20th century (seen here).
And just when one thinks Dolce and Gabbana may have run out of ideas, places, objects, or images to inspire a collection, it is delightful to see their Spring Summer '16 fantasia on the historic Palazzina Cinese, or Chinese Palace, in Palermo. Built in 1799 for King Frederick I at the height of European interest in all things Chinese, it is a three-story villa topped with pagoda-like spires full of Chinoiserie patterns, writings, and frescoes which are mixed with Italian designs and motifs (and that is really the essence of Chinoiserie: the "exotic" land of China interpreted through European eyes). So D&G created a collection of suits and separates portraying Chinoiserie pastoral scenes, branches with birds, and pagodas that look as if they were lifted straight from the walls of the Palace. And the effect is quite lovely, with Chinoiserie and Sicily sharing conceptual space. Some of the shapes of jackets are of an Asian nature and the pagodas and scroll work on the tops and trousers represent the Chinoiserie aspect, while the espadrille, that humble causal shoe of Mediterranean origin, comes embroidered with beads and sequins (a different design for each outfit) and represents the Sicilian aspect.
Each season, Dolce and Gabbana are quite prolific with their collections, with individual looks clocking in around the 70s. Compare this with other designers whose output is considered substantial if they create 30 or 40 looks. But this Spring Summer '16 collection comes in at a staggering 108 individual looks. There is FAR more than what I can show here...watch the full show in the clip below!
Studio Formafantasma are Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, Italian designers based in The Netherlands whose most recent series, "DE NATURA FOSSILIUM," refers to the 2013 eruption of Mount Etna in Sicily. These mind boggling constructions you see here are actually blown glass made from remelted lava rock. I adore the combination of slick, smooth shapes (mouth blown lava rock, and colored Murano glass) and the highly textured original lava rock.
Their website says: "Volcanic glass, procured by remelting Etna’s rocks, has been mouth-blown into unique vessels or cast into box-like structures that purposefully allude to the illegal dwellings and assorted buildings that have developed at the foot of the volcano. Drawing on their own vocabulary, these solitary glass boxes and mysterious black buildings have been finished with such archetypal Formafantasma detailing as cotton ribbons and Murano glass plaques. By returning the rocks to their original molten state Formafantasma are reversing the natural timeline of the material and forcing a dialogue between the natural and manmade."
Future relics. WOW.
Above left to right: Alicudi; Linguaglossa; Zafferana
"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ museum/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”
I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.
Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft, please) and I will be happy to provide a link. If you are the owner of an image and would prefer it be removed, I am happy to do that as well (again, without accusing me of theft , please).
I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain me. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.
All-time Favorite Films
2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)
After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)
Amelie
American Beauty (Alan Ball)
Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)
Belle et Bete (Cocteau)
Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)
Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)
Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)
Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)
Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)
Easy Rider
Edward II (Derek Jarman)
Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)
Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)
Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)
Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)
Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)
Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)
