If their men's collection was a celebration of family, it made perfect sense that Dolce & Gabbana's women's show would focus on Mamma, the fulcrum of the family. And what a focus! There were 11 mums on stage with their children. That required a full nursery setup backstage. On the runway, three models walked with their own children (the sheer joy of one little girl to be out there doing it made the hardest hearts melt). And Dolce stalwart Bianca Balti catwalked with a huge bun in the oven. Viva La Mamma!
"She's always there, she's the person you can always call." It's just like Stefano Gabbana was saying: "Every man everywhere has a mother." You could score all kinds of sociopolitical points off such a notion in the present headline-driven climate of male-dominated, life-denying madness, but Gabbana was much keener to make a point about fashion, which is often accused of being detached from the eternal verities: life, love, relationship with self and others. The positive message of the show—and the collection—was that everything we are is an extension of where we came from. One more time: Viva La Mamma. (Il Papà had his moment in the spotlight in January.)
Tearing oneself away from the onstage baby-watching (it was impossible to ignore the little ones responding to the unholy stimuli of a gigantic fashion production), it was almost equally entertaining to see how Domenico and Stefano responded to the inspiration. There were prints (and embroideries) based on drawings by Domenico's nieces and nephews that looked exactly like naughty kids had taken some crayons to Mum's best dress. But those showpieces would likely exert less commercial appeal than a classic black dress or double-breasted skirtsuit with a black fox stole (hot mamma) or a simple rose-strewn shift (sweet mamma). The rose was everything to the collection, not just because it's the flower you give your mother on Mother's Day, but because Stefano's favorite childhood memory of his own mother is the rose scent of her red lipstick. That's why Dolce & Gabbana's lipsticks are uniquely fragranced. Memory speaks loudest when it's closest to home.
The spectacle of infants paraded for the entertainment of adults is rarely edifying, but there was something so essentially good-hearted about this show—and so utterly persuasive with the patient participation of the actual mothers and their children—that those reservations would today have been the preserve of the churl. There was a crazy wit in play, too. A green, three-quarter-sleeved fur coat—a real lunch-at-Le Cirque piece—came with a matching tote sized for carrying nappies. Some models were wearing crystal-and-fur headphones, the contemporary crown of the modern queen.
Anyway, that's Mother's Day sorted for 2016. Come May 8 next year, Italian mums across the land will be forgoing red roses for a shiny black Dolce & Gabbana shopping bag.
