It was a good week for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana in Milan. Something relaxed in their world; the grandiosity peeled away, and they were having fun again. And D&G—the collection where the fun never stopped—was the big winner. A broadloom catwalk and a tartan backdrop evoked something comfy in the Highlands, and the duo obliged with a show that suggested a tribe of snowbound young men playacting their way through the closets and trunks of a grand old castle. So there were clothes that looked aged, tea-dyed, even moth-eaten, alongside sleekly sporty skiers' looks, which gave the proceedings a winning, pell-mell quality.
Elsewhere, Domenico and Stefano pushed things with leather biker pants paired with a houndstooth cardie, and a patchwork shearling worn with corduroy combats. And a moiré jacket paired with tartan slacks? Reconceptualize this collection as a murder-mystery weekend, and you could imagine guests spinning from scenario to scenario in a state of sartorial oblivion. If the sturdy, slightly distressed quality of many of the clothes might possibly mirror the state of mind of the guests at that weekend, it pays to remember that it's always been a function of the D&G collection to throw random elements against the wall and make them stick. This show was no exception and, as such, it was a sterling complement to the designers' signature show earlier in the week.
