The history of Dolce & Gabbana: the exhibition of the collections at Palazzo Reale

In fashion creativity is important, but it’s not everything. It’s not enough to have extraordinary ideas, you need to know how to realize them: without the hands that give them shape, creativity could not exist. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have never had any doubts about this assumption, so much so that, in 2012, they used it as a basis to create their Haute Couture: precious and unique garments intended for a lucky few, presented in the most evocative locations in Italy, from Taormina to Portofino, and created by involving (and celebrating) local artisan excellence. Now, twelve years later, the desire to open this universe to a wider audience has taken over, offering everyone the opportunity to explore it. It comes from here From heart to hands, the exhibition open from tomorrow until July 31st at Palazzo Reale in Milan in which, among thematic rooms, real and digital installations, works of art, tailors and artisans at work, those splendid clothes will come to life.

“The aim is to get visitors into the heads of the stylists, immersing them in their imagination”, explains curator Florence Müller. “Moreover, in person, you can better grasp the artistic and technical value of those creations. Like the dress worn by Naomi Campbell at the fashion show in Florence in September 2020, all made of feathers painted as if they were flowers: it’s hard to describe it believe, you really need to see it.”

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Surprising and inspiring those who visit the exhibition is fundamental for the designers, who think first of all about the creatives and artists of the future. “Our dream is to encourage the new generations to express what they feel, instilling courage”, they explain. “Therefore we want the exhibition to be aimed first of all at them: perhaps in this way they will feel called to talk about the beauty they have inside”.

But the event also has a more symbolic value, reveals the curator. “Everyone knows French haute couture, but there are many fewer who know how relevant, in historical and creative terms, Italian haute couture is”, she continues. “The fashion shows of Haute Couture for women, Haute Couture for men and Haute Gioielleria have made Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana a symbol of our local tradition. Talking about their work is therefore equivalent to celebrating this side of Made in Italy”.

The exhibition itinerary is divided into themes: it starts with the handmade room, for stylists the maximum expression of human value, in which Anh Duong’s paintings “converse” with the clothes on display; we continue with the room dedicated to glass, a labyrinth of mirrors in which, among the pieces by Barovier&Toso and Barbini, there are outfits inspired by Venetian glassmakers. We then move on to one of the real and literary places dearest to designers: the hall of Palazzo Gangi in Palermo, where Luchino Visconti filmed The Leopard in 1958 and where, in 2017, they organized the evening dedicated to High Jewellery.

“The world of the Prince of Salina told by Tomasi di Lampedusa represents the tradition that turns towards the new, the splendors of the past that fade and the inexorable march of tomorrow. The dialogue between aristocratic and popular, and the harmony of contrasts that derives from it , never ceases to fascinate us”, confirm the two.

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Müller echoes them: “It is one of the most impactful and immediate installations, between the dress inspired by the one worn by Angelica at the ball and the leopards present in the furnishings and on the garments”. Thus we arrive at the reflection on devotion, followed by tailoring, defined by the designers as the epicenter of their work, to subsequently analyze the similarities between fashion and architecture. Obviously, Sicilian folklore plays a fundamental role, between the room decorated by the master painters like a typical cart and the one dedicated to the baroque of the island, to which the stylists had dedicated the Haute Couture presented in Syracuse in 2022. After that, we immerse ourselves in the myth of Magna Graecia, with the reproduction of the Temple of Concordia in Agrigento, which in 2019 hosted a Haute Couture event made up of sumptuous tunics and peplums, ending with the homage to opera, a genre that stylists have always loved: each of their shows opens with the Rusticana Cavalry by Mascagni, and in 2019 Haute Couture even paraded on the stage of the Teatro alla Scala ready for the premiere on 7 December (it was the Traviata).

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Curiously, the exhibition also spreads outside the Royal Palace, where the digital works commissioned from various visual artists such as Vittorio Bonapace, Catelloo, Quayola are installed. An involvement of the city strongly desired by the two. “This exhibition belongs to Milan. For us everything was born here: now we are back under the Madonnina to take stock and close a circle. And given that our story starts from Milan (in 2025 the brand will turn 40, ed.) , it is natural that this new project also starts from this city.”