Italian iconography as fashion | Dolce & Gabbana

An Artist Date took me to the Dolce & Gabbana exhibition ‘Dal Cuore Alle Mani’ at the Roman Palazzo delle Esposizioni. This was an extraordinary visual experience, melding fashion with fine art and expressing the soul of Italian craft all at once.

This is beyond fashion. Each room was curated to reflect the design house’s sartorial themes, transforming the palazzo into intimate theatres curated to amplify the collections’ motifs. Glamourous and artistic, the galleries were accented with precious gems and celebrity photographs. Soundtracks of classical opera filled the air, establishing the distinctly Italian cultural mood. The pair looks to the visual iconography of their culture, beginning in Sicily, and reinterprets traditional motifs for modern wear. We find garments embodying baroque, lace (think ‘nonna’), ancient Rome, Sicilian ceramics, Sardinian weaving, embroidery, and… opera.

The Opera gallery was lined in red velvet, with a mirrored backdrop behind a stage, set with a banquet. Mannequins donned inspired designs in over-the-top fabrics, furs and sparkles –  from a Verdi sweater to a Tosca silk coat. The use of vintage program titles from La Scala on the garments brought an edge of modernity. Bordering the line between costumery and wearability, this fantastic collection spoke to my own artistic soul – as I have designed a collection of silk scarves based on Opera.

The creative consciousness of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana culminated in their documentary, showing their design process from “incantation” to runway. The show itself was a visual feast, one I will savor for a long time.