Lifestyle

Dolce&Gabbana's new line recalls sacred, profane

MILAN (AP) — "La Dolce Vita" was the name of the game at Dolce&Gabbana, where the fun-loving designing duo recalled the sacred and profane of mundane Italian life, as exposed in director Federico Fellini's 1960 movie.

The winter collection shown Sunday drew inspiration from Byzantine religious art and classic couture. Nino Rota's slightly disturbing music composed for his friend's movies provided a soundtrack for the show.

The show opened with a series of dresses in mosaic patterned silk, dripping with encrusted jewels and at times depicting an iconic image of a saint. Some of the outfits came with irreverent mini-bloomers.

To accessorize these already ornate outfits, the models wore a gilded crown, necklaces featuring a large Byzantine cross, heavy pendant earrings and velvet pumps with a thick jewel-encrusted heel. Then came the couture look. This evoked fancy ladies in demure sling backs and hair pulled back a la Princess Grace, wearing melange white and gray tweed suits with fitted jacket and flared skirt, or simple short sleeved sheath dress.

Next followed a series of black silk dresses interspersed with lace, which could reference either a Sicilian widow's wardrobe (Sicily is the designing duos trademark inspiration) or sophisticated cocktail hour attire, or even priestly garb.

The same outfits came in papal? white or cardinal? red, both liturgical colors much in vogue at the moment as cardinals prepare to gather in Rome to elect a new pope. No matter the color, the outfits were heavily bejeweled, and at times came with the cheeky bloomers.

Related Headlines

  • Fur dominates many a Milan runway

    Fur is dominating many Milan runways this season, which would be handy for this week's unusually persistent snowy weather. From big shaggy coats, often belted, to furry little ... 

  • Dolce&Gabbana offer masculine romanticism

    Dolce and Gabbana's menswear collection for next winter is pure masculinity, infused with southern romanticism. With motifs of winter roses, illuminated Madonnas and baroque ... 

  • Prada presents yesteryear opulence

    The Prada finale was a long luxurious mink coat with ample collar and cuff like the ones the Hollywood divas used to wear in the 1950's. Underneath the model wore a sheer ... 

  • Max Mara strikes a note of functional elegance

    The German Bauhaus design school gave the world functional yet elegant design in both everyday objects like chairs and teapots to living and working spaces. On the runway in ...