Mon, 24 Apr 2000

Dolce & Gabbana designs for women on the go

By Agni Amorita

JAKARTA (JP): It was Vucceria, the market of Palermo, Italy, that inspired Domenico Dolce, 42, and Stefano Gabbana, 38, for their spring/summer 2000 collections.

The collection, launched in Milan in September 1999, was shown in an afternoon fashion show at Grand Hyatt Hotel Jakarta last week.

How Dolce and Gabbana view women of the year 2000 went back to Dolce's hometown in Palermo with its Vucceria market.

The market was shown at the center, where, among the fruit and vegetables, various kinds of women stood around with their universal identity as D&G costumers -- self-confident, cheerful, modern, their image recognizable at first sight.

The Spring/Summer collections were created in order to accompany the active woman, running on a tight schedule from morning to evening; amid it all, she never wants to give up her femininity nor freedom. As a modern and dynamic third millennium phenomenon, she will also keep practicality as her guide to choose a city suit which has to be comfortable and up to date.

For the morning, D&G offered men's suits, complete with waistcoat and a small bag. A lot of unisex shirts in transparent voile with dots and band prints of all sizes were shown, mostly with Napoleonic necks and rose cufflinks. The clue to the collections is the neck, stealing the show with Swarovski crystal that is always coordinated with bras which peek out from the transparent shirts.

For the evening, D&G prepared various shapes such as pantaloons, gowns and minidresses. Made in embroidered lace, its top shown with a jersey with floral motifs, a recurring element.

Sparkling can also be found on the brilliantly colored silk shantung dresses. The masterpiece was a transparent skirt and fringes of glass beads with a different silhouette between the front and back. The outfit was worn with light knitwear that produced a colorful effect.

In short, great women with a Mediterranean tradition and culture have made it onto the catwalk. Legends such as Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren and Madonna have been points of reference. The mixture of ornately decorated ties, hand-painted couture shoes or even Moroccan sandals were perfectly blended. Dolce and Gabbana also catered to those nostalgic for the 1970s.

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have a loyal costumer base around the world, including Jakarta, who have been keeping the faith in the Italian designers for the last decade.

Dolce, the son of a tailor, and Gabbana started their megabuck business in October 1985. After showing their first knitted collections in 1987, the duo changed its identity to that of an international citizen with fashion counters in almost all major cities around the world.

Their fame has grown, thanks to loyal celebrity customers like Madonna, Demi Moore and Whitney Houston, who are more than willing to do a free campaign for the popularity of D&G. Madonna enlisted the duo to prepare all the costumes she needed for her sensational "Madonna, The Girlie Tour".

Dolce & Gabbana were not going to disappoint their customers by doing nothing. In fact, the two single Italians do not only offer their wardrobe collections -- which is getting bigger with new entries like jeans, leatherwear, scarves, shoes, underwear and beachwear. They have also branched out into fragrance, followed by its bathline, and the newest product from Dolce & Gabbana will be their suncare range, D&G SUN.