{"id":16890,"date":"2026-03-06T14:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hashtaglegend.com\/th\/?p=16890"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:35:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T07:35:53","slug":"review-show-dolce-gabbana-aw-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hashtaglegend.com\/th\/review-show-dolce-gabbana-aw-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"As fashion spins faster each season, Dolce & Gabbana chooses to pause time in Sicily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Reported by Manit Maneephantakun<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a season when Milan seems to be turning through a moment of profound transition, several of Italy\u2019s legendary fashion houses are beginning new chapters under the direction of a new generation of creative directors. Gucci, Fendi, and Marni are already navigating fresh creative leadership, while change is also looming at Versace. The atmosphere at Milan Fashion Week this year is therefore filled with questions about the future: who will define Italian style in the next era, and how can heritage brands preserve their identity amid the mounting pressures of the contemporary fashion system?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet amid all this movement, Dolce & Gabbana stands almost entirely in the opposite position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of speaking about \u201cnew beginnings\u201d or \u201cvisions of the future,\u201d Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have chosen to turn their gaze back toward what they have believed in for four decades: the identity of their brand. The year 2025 marked the duo\u2019s 40th anniversary, and before the show began, black-and-white images of the new collection appeared on screen, accompanied by a voiceover reflecting on the power of identity\u2014like a quiet but resolute declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany brands today completely lose their identity,\u201d Domenico Dolce said before the show. \u201cBut our history is very long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remark was not delivered with drama or provocation. Instead, it sounded more like a reminder\u2014to themselves and to the fashion world\u2014that Dolce & Gabbana has never intended to chase trends that shift every season. For them, identity is not something to be constantly refreshed; it is something to be protected and refined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past two seasons, Dolce & Gabbana had briefly ventured into more contemporary modes of dressing. Last spring they explored the idea of \u201cpajamas all day,\u201d reflecting the rhythms of modern urban life. The season before that, they drew inspiration from the off-duty style of their model friends\u2014vintage T-shirts, jeans, biker boots, and oversized men\u2019s coats\u2014creating a collection that felt like snapshots of real life rather than meticulously staged fashion images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This season, however, they chose to go much further back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several days before the show, in their studio, the designers pointed to old photographs of Marpessa Hennink and Isabella Rossellini from the late 1980s\u2014the period when Dolce & Gabbana had just founded their label and began building its reputation by translating Sicilian men\u2019s tailoring into powerful womenswear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sicily was the beginning of everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And it seems it will always remain their place of refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four decades later, Domenico Dolce\u2019s tailoring skills remain remarkably sharp. The hourglass silhouettes that have long defined the brand returned once again, though now rendered with even greater intricacy. Some jackets and coats were cut so that the back mirrored the front exactly\u2014lapels and buttons marching up the spine like the reflection of the garment itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big challenge,\u201d Dolce admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
To allow the audience to appreciate the craftsmanship fully, he asked the models wearing these special pieces to pause midway down the runway and perform a classic old-school twirl. The small gesture brought the garments to life in an unexpected way, especially in a man-sized double-breasted blazer that revealed just a glimpse of a delicate lace silk camisole beneath. It was a perfect collision of strict masculine tailoring and sensuality\u2014the tension that has always been at the heart of Dolce & Gabbana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The collection was almost entirely drenched in black, a color that seems to dominate Milan this week. Yet for Dolce & Gabbana, black is not merely a stylistic choice. It has always been the emotional language of the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the color of Sicily. The color of discipline. The color of effortless sensuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Toward the end of the show, the darkness softened slightly with a series of micro-print dresses inspired by an iconic Helmut Newton photograph from 1975. In the image, model Lisa Taylor reclines on a couch, her printed dress parted between her legs as she fixes a powerful gaze upon a shirtless man standing with his back to the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is an image that embodies the female gaze\u2014long before the term itself entered cultural vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe talk all the time about our memories of photographs,\u201d Stefano Gabbana explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Dolce & Gabbana, memory is not merely inspiration; it is a material for design, much like silk or wool in a tailor\u2019s hands. Photography, cinema, music, and women from the history of popular culture all become layers of narrative woven together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And one of those women appeared in the show space today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Madonna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was the guest of honor of the evening, and her presence seemed to complete the entire narrative of the show. In 1993, Dolce & Gabbana designed the costumes for Madonna\u2019s legendary Girlie Show tour\u2014one of the most influential pop tours of the 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More recently, Madonna recorded \u201cLa Bambola,\u201d a 1968 song by Patty Pravo, for the Dolce & Gabbana The One fragrance campaign. The classic Italian song celebrates the allure and cultural influence of Italy across the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in many ways, Dolce & Gabbana has done the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madonna sitting front row today was therefore more than just a celebrity moment. It symbolized the long relationship between the brand and pop culture\u2014a relationship that stretches almost as far back as the brand\u2019s own history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a fashion world that moves faster every year, where change is often celebrated as the ultimate virtue, Dolce & Gabbana chose to say something different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They did not attempt to avoid the feeling of d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu in this collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, they intended it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Returning to the late 1980s\u2014the era when their fashion was steeped in black, sculpted silhouettes, the collision of strict tailoring and lingerie, and a sensuality controlled by the discipline of craftsmanship\u2014was not merely an act of nostalgia. It was a clear declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is who we are. This is what our clients expect from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And perhaps, in a moment when the fashion industry is filled with uncertainty, holding firmly to one\u2019s identity may be the most radical gesture of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because when the world begins to blur, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana simply turn back to the same place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sicily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home of all their stories. And the place where Dolce & Gabbana always begins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reported by Manit Maneephantakun In a season when Milan seems to be turning through a moment of profound transition, several of Italy\u2019s legendary fashion houses are beginning new chapters under the direction of a new generation of creative directors. Gucci, Fendi, and Marni are already navigating fresh creative leadership, while change is also looming at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":16891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[938],"class_list":["post-16890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-dolce-gabbana"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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