Dolce & Gabbana
Who? Partners in life and business, the Italian-based design duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are known for their trend-setting and sometimes risky designs that have earned them a cult following among celebrities and suburban slobs alike. They have built an empire based on elegant, sensual and sexy designs, attracting the likes of Isabella Rossellini, Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman and Madonna. Acknowledging that luck is a part of their phenomenal success, in 1997 the pair announced they would retire by the age of 40, a promise they fortunately did not keep.
How did it happen? Dolce was born on September 13, 1958, in a small village near Palermo, Sicily, and Gabbana was born on November 14, 1962, in Venice. Dolce studied fashion design in Sicily and worked in his family's small clothing factory, while Gabbana studied graphic design in Milan. The pair met in 1980, when they were working as assistants in an atelier in Milan. In 1982, they started their own fashion consulting studio and were doing freelance design, but it wasn't until 1985, when they showed their first women's collection in Milan, that they won international acclaim. Their first store opened in 1989 in Japan, and the following year they presented their first men's collection, launched their first women's boutique in Milan and signed an agreement with the Genny Group to design the Complice line for four years. In 1992, Dolce & Gabbana created 1,500 costumes for Madonna's 'The Girlie Show' world tour. In addition to their multimillion-dollar women's and men's lines, they also created the highly successful Dolce & Gabbana range of jeans, underwear, shoes, swimwear, watches and eyewear plus a selection of fragrances for men and women. Their current diffusion line, D&G, was joined by a unisex diffusion collection called simply '&' in 2001. To give their fashion interests a musical twist, the pair recorded their own single, in which they intoned the words 'D&G is love' over a techno beat.
What do their designs look like? The designers combine street smarts with sexy creativity, making everyday items seductive. They are known for making women look devastatingly sexy, with a focus on emphasising the curves of a woman's body. Describing their style as 'sweet and sharp', their signatures include corset dresses, gangster boss pinstripes, animal prints and sexy black suits.
What do the designers say? 'We don't think only men can be powerful and strong. Behind the heads of the Mafia, the leaders of culture, there are always very strong women. European culture is a matriarchy, especially in the south. The women have a lot of power.'
Where are the designs available? The sensual ready-to-wear range is available at Dolce & Gabbana, Alexandra House, Central, tel: 2877 5558 and the diffusion lines are sold at D&G, Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2730 7900.