Everything like in 2000. But completely different from 2000. Everything like in February 2020. Or maybe not. To suggest – and then explain – the apparent paradox are Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana a few minutes from the start of the first live show and with the public of the days of Milanese men’s fashion, who project us, as only fashion can do, into the 2022, because the collections are those of next spring-summer.
Bright decor and hand-painted fabrics
«We had a certainty when we started working on this collection: there had to be light, a lot of light – say the two designers -. In the 95 looks that then took shape, this translated into luminous decorations, applications of stones and beads and hand-painted sequin fabrics. The scenography was a natural choice: the lights, which in the southern regions mean that it is party time ». But how can the comparison with 2000 be explained? «In that year, perhaps thanks to the dawn of the millennium, a new male hedonism was born, cheeky and not necessarily linked to a type of sexuality. It was at that time that, starting with David Beckham, the term was coined metrosexual – Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana reply -. Lights have always been a passion of ours and we work with Apulian and Sicilian artisans whenever we need them, for shops, special events, fashion shows. These in particular come from Catania ».
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Hedonism without labels
In the post-pandemic, hedonism, according to the two designers, has evolved, especially for men, in self-awareness and body awareness, without the need for labels. “This is the beauty of the new generations, boys and girls born right after 2000, who don’t even know what metrosexual means, like the approximately 100 models of this show, who are 80% Italian, but have features and skin colors of all kinds – they add -. In twenty years many things have changed, fashion follows the news but also rides the eternal returns ». Speaking of return: it was from February 2020, when Milan hosted the last pre Covid fashion week, that Dolce & Gabbana did not parade in the usual location, the former Metropol cinema in viale Piave. In July of last year, an outdoor men’s parade was set up in the gardens of Humanitas, the institute that Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana supported for research on the virus; last September it was the turn of haute couture and haute couture in Florence, but for the last two pret-à-porter fashion shows the format had been digital.
Technology and newfound freedom
We have learned a lot from the months of the lockdown and from the following ones, using technology more and better, in private and in the company – conclude Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana -. But live fashion shows, like theatrical performances, are irreplaceable, for the emotions they give to everyone. Today’s is finally the same as that of February 2020, yet different: we have learned to appreciate every step of the preparation, we have had even more care and attention for people. Fashion will always be light, but the pandemic has taught us to give a new meaning to every gesture we make and to the newfound freedom we enjoy ».