Dolce & Gabbana's Couture Project

[Melly5525]

i agree that some of the pieces look like repeats from their last collections, but the ballgowns are spectacular, they havent done anything like them in years, reminds me of SS06 and SS08 collections, 2 of my favs. Anyone know where to find hqs? dying to see the details

 

[LolaSvelt]

It looks like Anna's giving the famous 'pursed lips' from The Devil Wears Prada. Me too.

And Scarlett looks like she's saying to Anna: "Let's get the hell outta here. Why did I sign that contract?"

 

[kuli_trendy]

they're making a joke right?? it's not even a HC collection. and why does they have to make HC?? just focus with their RTW please!

 

[christian zh]

Some dresses reminds me of the S/S 2008 collection. Love the ballgowns though.

 

[devilinanewdress]

How refreshing.

 

[CATO]

any HC pics by now ???? what a secretservice project

 

[Mrs.T]

I was hoping for something glamorous, something more than that stupid lace...

 

[Flashbang]

telegraph.co.uk

 

[Flashbang]

Dolce & Gabbana couture autumn/winter 2012: The verdict

Lisa Armstrong: 'If you had to re-invent a definition of luxury, one of the most overused sells of modern times, then a double-sided cashmere-tweed with devastating curves over the hips is a good start.'
BY Lisa Armstrong

After 27 years, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have achieved a level of commercial and creative success with their ready-to-wear lines, perfumes, cosmetics, sunglasses, bags and shoes that means they can do what they want. And having been everywhere, seen it all and bought the yachts, what they want now is their own couture line, Alta Moda.

Not the modern version of a couture line, which is essentially another branding tool in which far more couture-show pictures are beamed around the world than outfits are actually ordered. This was not about following fashion's 21st-century business procedure - this was about the clients and the clothes (and maybe creating an old-fashioned mystique: the blogosphere had been a-throb with speculation about this show ever since news of it first emerged).

Dolce & Gabbana have had scores of seamstresses in their new Milan atelier working on this 73-outfit collection for months. Every last millimetre of lace - a Sicilian and Dolce & Gabbana speciality - was handwoven to order, every bead hand-stitched, every mimosa petal hand-painted, every quail's egg-sized jewel real. Some of the chandelier earrings were so heavy they came with hooks to loop over the ear, to avoid tearing at pierced holes. Each reworked vintage hat was a one-off.

If you had to re-invent a definition of luxury, one of the most overused sells of modern times, then a double-sided cashmere-tweed with devastating curves over the hips, but light-as-a-one-ply-jumper thanks to its flyweight internal silk padding, is a good start. Black lace, boned suits with pencil skirts, months in the construction but effortless to wear, are another. The models, radiating that particular Dolce & Gabbana quality of demure (centre-parted chignons inspired by Visconti's 1963 adaptation of The Leopard ) and sexiness (molto translucency and visible lingerie) threaded their way through the guests who were cluster-seated in the bougainvillea-festooned cloisters of a former monastery.

One by one, the duo's favourite tropes emerged: the idealised Sicilian black-widow silhouette, the embellished silk and velvet kitten heels, the voluptuous floral prints and appliquéd roses, the romantic full skirts and the slinky lace ones.

But the point, as Stefano Gabbana said, "was not to do new, new, new. It was to craft something beautiful, special and unique." What would happen if more than one client fell in love with the same pink lace dress? "First come, first served," he replied firmly.

Guaranteed exclusivity, a degree of secrecy and the time (and zen-like patience) to wait for these beautiful pieces to be made, are three further definitions of luxury. The irony is that in a saturated-celebrity-and-fast-fashion culture, Dolce & Gabbana's bid for slow-fashion, for artistry and for not having to think too hard about bottom lines or the endless churn of ready-to-wear shows, can only benefit their brand.

Dolce & Gabbana couture: First look at the autumn/winter 2012 collection

Italian duo Dolce & Gabbana made an ambitious tilt at couture-level greatness by staging a select - and very hot - show to launch their new collection in Sicily. Luke Leitch reports.

BY Luke Leitch | 11 July 2012

Two atelier tailors, one multimillionaire client, and one fashion editor: never before have so many fainted at one fashion show.

This, though, was no cursory catwalk quickie. Conceived six years ago and in top-secret production for the past six months, it took place in Sicily over 36 sweltering hours from Sunday evening until the early hours of yesterday morning. Costing certainly several millions to stage, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's first-ever Alta Moda presentation was an elaborate campaign of seduction mounted to woo some of the world's richest women into committing themselves to a collection with which the Italians plan to rival the long-established couture houses of Paris at the apex of fashion. As Stefano Gabbana said before the show: "When we started out 27 years ago, our dream was to become a maison like Chanel, old Chanel. And now, maybe, this dream is coming true."

Three newspapers - The Daily Telegraph , Le Figaro and Corriere della Sera - were invited to cover this ambitious tilt at couture-level greatness, plus the editors from almost every international edition of Vogue . Yet all were only allowed admittance under strict conditions; no tweeting, filming or publication of any but a very few photographs of the show. And no surreptitious snapping of the designers' celebrity guests, including Scarlett Johansson (in a lace sheath as snug as her Avengers leathers) and Stephanie Seymour (cantilevered strapless black-and-white polka-dot dress). The reason, explained Gabbana, "is not because of us, but the customers. They really do not want to see their dresses in a magazine."

Some 80 of these customers-cum-collector women travelled by private jet from Qatar, Russia, China, the US, Germany and Japan to attend. And while a few of them were happy to quantify their couture collections by the metre, most were decidedly not.

By Sunday, when all the guests had arrived via a fleet of black Mercedes to Taormina, Dolce & Gabbana's 35-strong tailoring team were applying the collection's final touches - Venetian material spun from gold, earrings dripping with blossoms and rubies - and it was so hot that two had fainted.

Then, that night, when the event began with a launch of Bellini's Bel Canto opera Norma in the ancient Roman amphitheatre, the fashion editor toppled, too. She fell (elegantly) to the floor just in front of the orchestra pit. First aid was provided by a doctor dressed as a druid who happened to be in that evening's chorus. He prescribed ice-cream, and she soon recovered. Later, on a terrace facing Mt Etna, guests picked at a 30ft long trestle table heaped with Sicilian sweetmeats, watched an outrageous firework display set to Verdi's Valzer Brillante , and danced.

By Monday evening, at the former monastery of San Domenico where the show was staged the reason for the guest's luxury immersion-course in local culture became clear. Where Parisian couture riffs on French cultural tradition, this Alta Moda would look to all things Sicilian, from the ornamented excess of its Baroque period to the dress worn by Claudia Cardinale when she dances (to that same Verdi waltz) in The Leopard . Domenico Dolce, who was born on the island, said: "This is our style. It is not trend, I do not care if it is cool. Prêt-à-porter is different, it is about cool and how many covers will we get this season. Here, we are completely free. So for me this is not work but pleasure."

Yet the proof of the cannoli is in the eating: however sentimental Dolce & Gabbana's Alta Moda journey, it will need to sell to survive, and to be loved by its clients for the designers deem it a success. From what we could tell, it already has sold. One Russian buyer, unable to attend, ordered several of the 73 dresses - each costing tens of thousands of pounds - on the basis of photos sent by email. The Chinese - despite many missing the show because they were having their make-up done - also proved enthusiastic, as did a Qatari woman who finds it convenient to acquire couture 10 dresses at a time.

This, at least, was the gossip at the post-show supper from which, one at a time, the clients were invited backstage to browse the collection. Early yesterday morning Dolce was still at the party, dancing to Madonna with the gusto of a man whose job is done, while Gabbana had returned to his private yacht moored in the bay.

That fourth fainter, who fell at the beach on Monday, also made a full recovery, and expects to be invited to the second Alta Moda show, planned for Shanghai in November.

telegraph.co.uk

 

[GivenchyHomme]

Beautiful Table Cloths and Curtains.

 

[CholoChic]

Beautiful Table Cloths and Curtains.

and carpets.

I just don't know why a lot of secret about this show,
the few pictures says it is not amazing, it is about embellishments
and there is nothing new, that garden and big dramatic themes Galliano have already done very well.

 

[Street_a_Licious]

After 27 years, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce have achieved a level of commercial and creative success with their ready-to-wear lines, perfumes, cosmetics, sunglasses, bags and shoes that means they can do what they want.

yeah?

their bankruptcy says something different

 

[helmut.newton]

This is beautiful and it is very true to their aesthetic. It feels molto Italiano, whats not to love? The details are extraordinary! It would be great to see some of those dresses in detail and to see all the lace and the embroideries.

Besides, I don't understand why everyone here is hating on them. I think what Domenico said was completely true and rather sympathetic; "This is our style. It is not trend, I do not care if it is cool. Prêt-à-porter is different, it is about cool and how many covers will we get this season." Realistically, this doesn't need to appeal to anyone except their loyal clientele, who will appreciate the collection for its craftsmanship and not dismiss it on a whim because it 'looks like what they've been doing this season or that season'.

Furthermore, what I appreciate most of all about this concept, is that you can sense the dedication and the passion. Their last few collections have had such incredible pieces, with such a luxurious sensibility, it was only natural they would find a way to extend on what they were doing in the ready-to-wear. Bravo Dolce&Gabbana!

 

[Melancholybaby]

Besides, I don't understand why everyone here is hating on them. I think what Domenico said was completely true and rather sympathetic; "This is our style. It is not trend, I do not care if it is cool. Prêt-à-porter is different, it is about cool and how many covers will we get this season."

Except this isn't the case with their RTW either...5 years ago, definitely...now, hell no! Their RTW is stuck in the same rut for years now so his quote makes him sound even more pretentious and foolish.

 

[mistress_f]

Besides, I don't understand why everyone here is hating on them. I think what Domenico said was completely true and rather sympathetic; "This is our style. It is not trend, I do not care if it is cool. Prêt-à-porter is different, it is about cool and how many covers will we get this season."

but this would be true if their rtw in the past like 5/6 seasons was in any way different from what they've made here. it's absolutely the same, except this is a bit tackier.

 

[lepetitcouturier]

Naturally the clothes are beautiful but it is so repetative! It's always the same stuff. I can see collections from the last five years in this. The ballgowns are beautiful, yes, but some of them are exactly like the finale dreeses from spring 2008. I'm just so bored with them by now, it's always the same crap.

 

[JuiceMajor]

i find myself more interested with the sitting arrangement!! any difference in terms of importance between the chair and the couch? anyway have to stick to the topic right?

well nothing i haven't seen before which can only be a good thing to say that the RTW already feels couture like!

 

[Excentrique]

more lace? REALLY?

I agree totally! it´s just the same! looks just like their normal collections, not excited about this

 

[ultramarine]

Ill admit I do like the painted pieces and the gowns ... its like lil italian Lacroixs ...

 

[sliver]

The last big ball gown reminds me of S/S 2008