DOLCE & Gabbana put on another show of force at Milan Fashion Week this season. By force, one refers to the forcing of not just Italy with a capital I but the brand’s now scarcely nuanced love affair with generation Y with a capital Y. The writing was on a t-shirt that read Dolce & Gabbana heart Justin Bieber, the design duo are desperate to be a part of mainstream pop culture.
Nevertheless, it was all mostly in jest and when donned by infants, mother-daughter duo’s, Pixie Lott plus Oliver Cheshire and some models now a little longer in the tooth as they’ve always been on the limbs, it’s seemingly meant for all ages — and species, if you count the Chihuahua being clutched by Andrea Dellal. Something about the internet’s dreamboat, Instagram-cum-youtube-cum-snapchat superstar Austin Mahone serenading models as they walked felt a touch too much though.
Clothing was as grand as always. AW17 consists mainly of mosaic prints, floral print, leopard prints and byzantine regalia, just the kind of stuff any self-respecting young European socialite should wear all-at-once to emulate the costume of her Contessa grandmother, on acid. We’re in it for the graffiti motif however, which felt like something genuinely fresh and as such done to an exceptionally higher standard. Jeans, currently open to much experimentation from an industry embracing the endeavour of making something mundane into something monumental, looked great bedecked in D&G glitz. Plus, there was the same pretty procession of little black dresses not meant for little figures that will always keep us coming back.
Come the finale and the storming of the catwalk, it would have been a hard task to find an unhappy face in the house. Beyond the clothing, the very industry of which has changed immensely since D&G’s dynamic arrival in the late eighties, they are still good at promoting a mood which any kind-hearted soul should be able to get behind.
by Livia Feltham
Images courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana