Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are coming off a big year, in which they celebrated the 25th anniversary of their business. What better way to move into their next quarter century, their thinking went, than with the blank slate of an almost all-white collection? The idea behind this quite lovely show, the designers explained backstage, was a hope chest. That is, the things new and handed down that a bride might pack before she sets off on the next chapter of her life.
In addition to not-so-virginal wedding-night lingerie, which the models wore for the characteristically showstopping finale, the Dolce & Gabbana girl's trousseau was stuffed with bedspreads, tablecloths, and curtains transformed into the duo's familiar hourglass sheaths, sexy skirtsuits, baby-doll dresses, rompers, and not a few va-va-voom corsets. Out they came in broderie anglaise, what looked like antique hand-tatting and crochet, a velvet floral, and, because it would hardly be a Dolce & Gabbana outing without it, leopard print. To finish: more lace smothered in clear crystals for a sparkling evening look.
This show didn't necessarily have the emotional impact of last season, with its tear-jerking behind-the-scenes video. But it certainly showed the designers in top form, keenly aware of their strengths (has there been a season in recent memory in which more editors have worn Dolce & Gabbana in the front row?) and making the very most of them.
