Overhead screens displayed videos of intrecciato, the basket-weaving technique that produced the most spectacular pieces in Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s latest collection. There was an emotional subtext to the how-to: The designers wanted to emphasize the importance of close connections in hard times. That the result had an Italianate Rat Pack zest only amplified the personal nature of the collection. We’re going back to our roots—that was the battle cry.
So the flat-capped black-and-white opening section felt like clothes fit for a hardscrabble Roberto Rossellini anti-hero (appropriate, given that his daughter Isabella was an early muse for the boys). Then there was a baroque passage of moirés, velvets, and frog closings that could have stepped straight out of Visconti’s The Leopard, the movie that was an early education for Domenico and Stefano in the essential truth that life’s aristocrats don’t need to rely on wealth for their bearing. And then—up and out of nowhere—dear old Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion, the newest star in Dolce & Gabbana’s T-shirt constellation.
Even in the current market downturn, Dolce & Gabbana has been doing exceptionally well with its menswear, or so said Stefano, who claimed that their man tends to be unhindered by emotional or family ties, and is therefore free to fritter away his income on himself. Still, following on from Spring’s pajamas, the designers offered a comfort zone for Fall in the form of quilted pieces, like the petrol-blue pants that accompanied a chunky navy knit. They were actually the best things in the show, probably because they were so damned quirky. And it
‘sgoing to be quirk, rather than comfort, that gives fashion its kick in the tough times to come.
