Blood and sand and all of the other best bits of the “Spanish influence in Sicily between 1576 and 1713” made Dolce & Gabbana’s SS15 menswear presentation. “Made” has a little bit too much restraint though, because the moment the torero twangs of the flamenco guitar bounced around the venue they rumbled right through the soul. The same can definitely be said for the design duo’s collection, which puts renewed faith in the wonders of shaping the male physique with clothing.
The major crucible here is of course the male, while in London over the past week everything was almost unbearably practically pre-pubescent in comparison to Italy’s male ideal. So it was red, red, red, passion and all bullfighter bravado with tight fits, majestic embroidery and racy Rudolph Valentino he-men. The ever-emergent D&G religious brocade motif ran throughout everything from the suits, sportier track sets and even those marvellously hip oversized t-shirts, but who could possibly pass on such a divine reference to Catholicism, certainly not us.
It was a lengthy collection as usual, but didn’t come without a controlled abundance of hits and absence of misses, note the standout scorched red leather jacket, neo-classic shirts with flamboyant collars and perfectly tapered trousers. The underlined historical sides were just as sumptuous as the streaming crimson duchesse silk, in what was to become a Mediterranean melting pot, with a boiling point that reached sizzling heights.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com