After a jaunty trek through the Tyrol for their fall D&G collection, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana took the secondary line back to familiar territory—sunny southern Italy—for spring. The show combined local pride, classical references and modern moxie, all bound together with a healthy dose of sex appeal.
Touristy T-shirts printed with various Rome-related slogans and the D&G logo were a mainstay of the line. But in the hands of the designers, what could have been airport souvenir fare was morphed into fashion: slashed, cropped and shredded to within an inch of Flashdance. The pieces appeared alone as very mini dresses, or came paired with baseball jackets cropped bust-high, vividly colored sheer chiffon ponchos and shredded tight jeans. Other looks on offer included tiny bras and loose, drapy silk tops, combat microshorts and ruffly minis. There were glamorous oversize glasses and gold baseball caps to ward off those intense Mediterranean midday rays and, for strolling around town, what must surely be the season's cheeriest footwear: sneakers on built-up rainbow platform soles worthy of '70s funkster George Clinton.
