Dolce & Gabbana Put Their Mainline Collection on the Runway

In this pandemic year, designers have been experimenting with new formats: making coffee table books (Proenza Schouler), hiring big name directors to produce an atmospheric miniseries (Gucci), even launching video games (New York up-and-comer Collina Strada). Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana still believe in fashion shows. So much so, in fact, that they put their mainline collectsion on the runway.

“We believe that an alternative to the dream of the fashion show has not been found yet,” Dolce says. “But, he adds, “the catwalk is the means, not the end, through which we express ourselves and try to transfer emotions. Our priority is to make our customers happy, to see them smiling. It is also to answer to their new necessities that the DG Digital Show project was born; it allows us to present, through real fashion shows, collectsions immediately available for purchase.”

Though the new Digital Show videos showcase the patch-working techniques from the spring 2021 collectsion, the attitude of the clothes and accessories is more casual and everyday, attuned to our Covid times. “Fashion must reflect reality, Gabbana says. “With the DG Digital Show project, we present men’s and women’s collectsions that are immediately available in boutiques and on e-commerce, through our website and social media.” The Instagram videos are shoppable. 

The pandemic continues to impact the way the designers conduct business. Typically, November is a month dedicated to the development of the Alta Moda and Alta Sartoria collectsions they show before the holidays. Not this year. “The events were scheduled for mid-December but the new Covid-19 protocols do not allow our customers to travel, neither our collaborators to reach them for fittings,” Dolce explains. “Alta Moda offers unique, special products that must be tried on. We are proactive and, as soon as circumstances permit, we will be happy and ready to take the project back in hand.”