Par
Thomas Martin
Published on
Jan 12, 2025 at 9:40 a.m.
Dolce & Gabbana will amaze with a spectacular exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris opening Friday January 10. More than 200 dresses, jewelry and dressing gowns pay homage to Italian craftsmanship. Called “From the Heart to the Hand”, this exhibition – which caused a sensation in Milan last year – is now the calling card of two Italian designers in the fashion capital, where the duo has never before shown.
A reproduction of the duo’s workshop
In a renovated Grand Palais, with a sumptuous staging in each of the ten rooms, the retrospective reveals all the influences of the Sicilian Domenico Dolce and the Milanese Stefano Gabbana.
And the artistic references are inexhaustible: the Renaissance, with a room paying homage to the Farnese Palace, the classical inspiration of Rome and Byzantium, religious devotion, the color of popular Sicilian festivals, with a room entirely decorated with hand-painted tiles. hand, the film “The Leet”…
Accessible until March 31, the exhibition also includes a reproduction of the duo’s workshop, where workers from the company were busy sewing dresses on Thursday.
The exhibition opens its doors two weeks before the resumption of the fashion shows in Paris, first with men’s fashion week (from January 21 to 26), then with Haute Couture (from January 27 to 30).
Unique dresses
Dolce & Gabbana launched their first collection 40 years ago, in 1985, with a bed sheet as decoration. They have since become one of the leading names in Italian fashion, with forays into accessories and decoration. “This is the first time that they are presenting their work and revealing their haute couture,” Florence Müller, curator of the exhibition, explained to AFP.
Dolce & Gabbana fashion shows, always organized in an Italian setting, from the Greco-Roman ruins of Agrigento in Sicily to La Scala in Milan, have indeed become one of the most exclusive events in the fashion world.
“These were collections that were presented until now in a rather confidential way, reserved for haute couture clients, and which they have now decided to show to the general public,” continues Ms. Müller. Some dresses are unique, adds the commissioner.
A “Madonna” by the painter Raphaël can be worn on a man’s jacket as well as on a woman’s wide skirt, embroidered with lapis lazuli.
Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Portrait of a Musician” (1485) is woven from silk and cotton on a sweatshirt. The Greco-Roman era is illustrated in capes and dresses printed with geometric patterns, reinvented from the angle of the cinematic peplum. “The dresses refer to the decor and vice versa,” specifies the curator.
A huge golden bleeding heart, in the style of Baroque religious images, dominates the room devoted to Catholic devotion, with a large black lace cape embroidered with gold threads and sequins.
This artisanal know-how is a success for the brand, full of optimism after a jump in its sales of 17%, to 1.871 billion euros, for the 2023-2024 financial year ending in March.
Dolce&Gabbana is considering an IPO, explained its president, Alfonso Dolce, brother of the designer, in July.
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