Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are bringing their own brand of gilded baroque glamour to Miami this week. Concurrent with Art Basel, and two years in the planning, the brand’s takeover of the city is set to be a many-splendored affair, focused on fashion for women and men, jewelry, watchmaking, and interiors.
The design duo have been honing the concept of fashion shows as entertainment since launching Alta Moda a decade ago. This year they hosted a Kardashian wedding and a Sicilian extravaganza for Alta Moda’s 10th birthday in addition to their Milan shows and parties. Now the designers have switched their focus from the south of Italy, to the southern part of the US, and South America. “I’m Sicilian, said Dolce on a call. “We love Latin culture, this is very close to the Dolce & Gabbana world.”
Of Miami, Dolce continued, “it’s changed [since the ’90s].” Back then, Miami Beach was the place to be; now, “Miami is like a metropolis, another city.” It’s not only weather, but expansion and development, that makes the place a draw for so many. For Dolce and Gabbana, Miami is a meeting point, a place where Latin-American and South American people and cultures commingle.
For the Alta Moda and Alta Sartoria collections that will be shown in the Surf Club at The Four Seasons on November 29, Dolce and Gabbana approached Latin culture from an outsider’s perspective, pulling aspects of traditional dress, like a flamenco dancer’s polka dots, into their world. “When we have a show in any place, we try to go inside the culture, to respect the place,” said Dolce, who added that the casting has been done locally.
About 100 looks (roughly 60 Alta Moda and 40 Alta Sartoria) will be presented, salon-style. “All the clothes are completely unique and handmade,” stressed Dolce, who explained that a single dress can take six months to make. The purpose of Alta Moda, and all of the other Altas, is the preservation of the artisanal, fatto a mano, way of working from traditional bottegas.
Gabbana is proud to report that they are able to do this with cross-generational teams. “I tell you one thing, the oldest ones in the company are me and Domenico,” he joked. “In our tailor group, 50% percent are guys and girls who are like 25, 26. There is interest from the new generation in craftsmanship. For this reason we are optimists. We don’t want to lose this tradition, this opportunity for the next generation.”
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