Dolce and Gabbana was established in 1985 by Domenico Dolce (born 1958 near Palermo, Italy) and Stefano Gabbana (born 1962, Milan, Italy). Domenico was the son of a Sicilian tailor who now runs the factory in Milan. His mother had her own dressmaking business. Dolce and Gabbana met in Milan in the early 80's while working as fashion consultants.
Since their first collection presented at Milano Collezioni salon in 1985, Dolce and Gabbana demonstrated their adoration with voluptuous feminity, quite typical for their Southern ancestry. They took then-forgotten items like satin corsets, fishnet stockings, marabou-trimmed babydoll dresses and added quintessentially masculine pinstripes and tank tops – concocting a perfectly glamorous image of 1990s.
By the mid-1980s Dolce and Gabbana were loved by stars and fashion editors alike. Their perfectly constructed pantsuits and skin-tight pencil skirts evoked the imagery of Itailan classic movies by Roberto Rosselini and Luchino Visconti, heroines of Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani. The trademark style of Dolce&Gabbana enabled a woman to use sexual stereotypes to her own benefits. Confident and ironical, Dolce and Gabbana often used religious themes, rosary beads, little black dresses, headscarves, and lace shawls to support the Sicilian theme.
In 1991, Madonna popularized their rhinestone-covered bodice wearing it to the opening of Cannes movie festival. Since then corset dresses, gangster pinstripe pantsuits, floral embroidered coats, Empire line jackets and leggings became the signature pieces of every Dolce and Gabbana collection. Their clothes express a confident, sexy allure which never overpowers the wearer’s personality.
The Dolce & Gabbana woman is strong: she likes herself and knows she is liked. It’s a woman who indifferently wears extremely sexy guêpières or bras that can be seen under sheer clothes, contrasting them with the very masculine pinstripe suits complete with tie and white shirt or a men's vest. She always wears very high heels which, in any case, give her both an extremely feminine and sexy way of walking and unmistakable posture. She loves that so masculine cap imported from Sicily and the rosary of the first Communion, which she wears as a necklace. She can indifferently be a manager, wife, mother or lover but she is always - and in whatever case - thoroughly a woman.
The same key elements, sexiness mixed with precise cut and traditional techniques, shape the menswear collection introduced in 1990. All the garments are produced in the family-owned factory supervised by Domenico Dolce’s father, thus ensuring the highest imaginable quality and just the right dose of down-to-earth, homemade chic. Each Dolce and Gabbana menswear collection bears something rural, be it rigid wool jacket worn by Sicilian country men or bandanna around the neck.
The Dolce&Gabbana Group with its two brands, Dolce&Gabbana and D&G Dolce&Gabbana, is one of the top international names in the clothing and luxury goods sectors. Dolce&Gabbana creates, produces and distributes clothing, knitwear, leather goods, footwear and accessories for the top end of the market. It also has exclusive brand rights to Dolce&Gabbana and D&G Dolce&Gabbana fragrances, eyewear, D&G Dolce&Gabbana clothing and wristwatches. The chief production company is Dolce&Gabbana Industria, which controls the two manufacturing facilities in Legnano and Incisa in Val d’Arno, a number of companies that provide support services, and DGS S.p.A, which controls the Italian own-store network.
The designing duo have been awarded the Woolmark Award in 1991; International Prize of the Perfume Academy for the best feminine fragrance of the year (1993, Dolce&Gabbana Femme) and best masculine fragrance, best packaging and best campaign in 1995. They also received Oscar de Parfums award for the best men’s fragrance in 1996.
Address: Via San Damiano, 7, 20122 Milan, Italy.
Press office: Via Santa Cecilia, 7, 20122 Milan, Italy.
Dolce&Gabbana in Toronto:
Holt Renfrew
50 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON
M4W1A1
(416) 922-2333
www.holtrenfrew.com
Dolce&Gabbana 
