Domenico Dolce, with typical Sicilian beauty, and Steffano Gabbana, with a charming gaze, joined their professional paths three decades ago. Interestingly, not only professionally. The history of the Dolce Gabban brand and this is one of those where success was born in pain. Talented designers almost gave up their dreams. The reason was prosaic, lack of money. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
The now iconic Dolce&Gabbana brand is a symbol of luxury, beauty, originality and true art. Their history is full of difficult moments and interesting facts.. How did two young Italians conquer the world of fashion?
Design brought them together
Domenico and Steffano are two different life stories, different homes, characters, but one passion. Both were fascinated by the world of fashion, and specifically design. Domenico Dolce came from a home where fashion was not something foreign. It may not have been a global or Italian big market, but his father was a tailor. And the young son was happy to help in his workshop. His mother also worked in the ‘industry’, because she sold fabrics. Young Domenico could learn about materials and structures and process them into designs in his head or on his father’s sewing machine. Finally he went to study in Milan, of course to study design. However, he did not finish his studies, he interrupted his education when he decided that he already knew everything important and what he should know! His goal was to work for Armani. Did he already have ambitions to conquer the world then? Perhaps he hoped to be famous like Chanel.
Steffano Gabbana is 4 years younger than Domenico. As a child, he didn’t have the same inspirations as Dolce, his mother was a laundry worker and his father worked in a printing house. He was born in Milan, the world capital of fashion, that is, since childhood he was somewhat surrounded by fashion.
Domenico and Steffano were connected by one man, Giorgio Correggiari. This is where the story of the Dolce Gabbana brand begins . Correggiari was a designer that Dolce worked for and he introduced him to Gabbano. As Dolce said about him, although Giorgio Correggiari was not a famous designer, he was one of the most important people in their environment. He taught them what not to do above all.
The first shows and the first turbulence in the history of the Dolce Gabbana brand
In 1983, Domenico and Stefanno struck out on their own, opening their first studio. Just two years later presented their first women’s collection at the New Talents show. Then came the first store, a professional women’s clothing collection and a fashion show at Milan Fashion Week.
Dolce and Gabbana couldn’t afford to pay their models, that’s why their friends took part in the show. Interestingly, they also had their own accessories, watches, belts and other gadgets, because the designers didn’t have the money for them either. What’s more, the stage curtain was simply a sheet from the Dolce house.
The first collection fiasco
Can you imagine that the first D&G collection turned out to be a complete fiasco? There was so little interest in it that Gabbana decided to cancel the order for more fabrics. However, a combination of factors meant that the order was not canceled, and the Dolce family lent the designers money for further development. If it were not for the fact that there was no fast electronic communication in the past and the order was sent before the company received information about its cancellation, today we would probably not be writing about the history of the Dolce Gabbana brand at all.
The end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s of the last century brought many positive situations for young designers. Their company gained momentum and they continued to take on new challenges. They opened a boutique in Milan, began producing underwear and swimsuits, and conquered Japan, the United States and other countries. They designed a men’s clothing collection and created their own signature D&G fragrance.
Dolce and Gabbana’s revenues at the end of the last century were $500 million. They opened the current century with revenues of nearly $600 million.
Masters of the stage look
Dolce and Gabbana have an extraordinary sense of style and moment. They can create simple, yet very characteristic and different things from others at first glance. Their talent has been appreciated by the biggest stars of film and music. D&G have dressed such stars on stage as Madonna, Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue over the years.
Fashion Trend Barometer
A few years ago, one of the American music producers, and also a DJ, Frankie Knuckles, summed up D&G’s talent and work well. He stated that the fashion house is a great barometer of trends. Designers are ahead of trends, they can easily be called visionaries.
It is worth noting that Dolce and Gabbana run their fashion house in a very thoughtful way. They tend to avoid scandals, public airing of dirty linen and controversial situations. This is an exceptional phenomenon at the top of fashion and often, unfortunately, due to family conflicts or conflicts between designers, there are frictions.
In the late 90s, Dolce and Gabbana announced they were a couple. They split in 2003, but they continue to work together, and the company continues to grow.
Sicilian dress and D&G classic
Hal Rubenstein considered it one of the most important dress styles in the world. The Sicilian dress still reigns supreme, especially in summer. Its classic version is the essence of the D&G brand. Among the classics are also: corsets, pencil skirts and, of course, characteristic handbags.
Designers like to play not only with form, but also with patterns. They use floral, fruit and animal motifs. In addition to clothes, shoes, and accessories, they sell home accessories and cosmetics, among them lipsticks, gift boxes filled with gadgets. They also offer attractive clothes for children and teenagers.
Sometimes you get the impression that you can’t create anything new anymore, after all, what else can you do with a piece of fabric? However, the history of the Dolce Gabbana brand and the current offer of the fashion house continue to surprise with new, fresh designs. The creativity of the creators apparently has no end.