“The world is overwhelmed by images and by all sorts of distractions,” said Domenico Dolce at today’s press conference. “We just felt the strong need to go at the essence of who we are. We said to ourselves, ‘Let’s do us, let’s do what we really believe in.’” “Reducing. Stripping anything unnecessary away,” chimed in Stefano. They called the collection Essenza, Italian for Essence, a concept of almost philosophical depth whose exploration entailed intense soul-searching—and lots of black.
The designers were adamant: “This has nothing to do with minimalism, rather with simplicity,” they stated. “These are our codes—which span from black, to black, to eighty percent black,” they joked. In the Dolce & Gabbana dark black sea of impeccably tailored suits and masterfully sharp-cut coats, which ultimately was what this season’s collection was about, they introduced just a modicum of pearl grey, and two stellar white pantsuits. The rest was as dark as the lava of Sicilian volcanos, with just occasional flashes of light given by tone-on-tone crystal embroideries, to reference the wet translucence of erupted magma. Black for Dolce & Gabbana is a fundamental signifier, “almost violent in its intensity,” said Domenico. “We’ve envisioned this collection as if it were a photo in black and white: timeless, eternal, without any chromatic vehemence which would’ve made it current, temporary, alla moda.”
Full Collection Bellow
