Meet the world’s best-dressed drones
Backstage, before their ecclesiastically-themed show yesterday, Stefano and Domenico Dolce shared a snapshot from when they were both cast as men of the cloth in Rob Marshall’s musical Nine.
That performance was significantly shorter than the delay before this show, caused by a technical hitch. Some of the audience wouldn’t, or couldn’t, turn off their wi-fi, despite repeated requests, which meant the big opening sequence in which a dozen handbags were shuttled down the runway via drones, like storks delivering particularly costly babies, almost didn’t happen.
Fortunately, Dolce & Gabbana’s audience are tolerant about delays, which merely provide them more time to observe and be observed. On one side of the catwalk sit the journalists, editors and stylists in their uniforms of navy, black and grey. On the other, high-net worth clients, in full length lace ball gowns, tiaras, minks, wigs and jewelled capes – at 2pm. While other designers spout about diversity, D&G put it on their front row, with customers from across the world, in all shapes and sizes, aged from three to 75 (the former, all in silk, entertained herself by posing for photos with her Dolce handbag).
On the catwalk, the Catholic Church had been plundered for ideas – timely given the New York Costume Institute’s Catholicfocused fashion exhibition which opens in May and will feature D&G’S religion-inspired designs. Cherubim romped across velvet tunics, shoes and coats. Crucifixes abounded.
Papal purple found fresh meaning in velvet jogging “suits”. One black shirt featured a white dog-collar, Gold incense dispensers were turned into bags and the classic D&G trouser suit stepped into the spotlight in luxurious brocades from Venice and Rome.
Despite the many shows D&G stage each year, this one felt sincere and was packed with standouts, from a floral embroidered parka or sequin and houndstooth skirt and jacket to oversized patchwork bomber jackets.
Pop culture was clearly another major influence. T-shirts and black dresses, minimalist as a nun’s habit, but rather more body-con, were decorated with slogans, while Latin ponderings on love meandered across track suits – possibly the first time “streetwear” and Seneca have collided.
Milan Fashion Week