"What the fashion system says and what the fashion customer says are really two different things" - Stefano Gabbaa
"There are people who believe that a Dolce & Gabbana T-shirt is more stylish than a supermarket one, and there are people who believe the opposite. There is room for everyone" -Domenico Dolce
Childhood of Domenico Dolce
Domenico Mario Assunto Dolce, was born on 13 August, 1958 in Polizzi Generosa, Sicily. From childhood his dream was to work for the fashion legend, Armani. Dolce's father was a tailor and his mother used to sell fabrics and apparel. He attended fashion design school Istituto Marangoni, in Milan. He dropped out before graduating as he felt confident of his fashion skills.
Childhood Stefano Gabbana
Stefano Gabbana was born on November 14, 1962 in Milan. His father worked in a printing factory and his mother worked in laundry service. Gabbana graduated from a design institue, Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche, in Rome.
Dolce&Gabbana
The year was 1980, Dolce and Gabbana met for the first time in a night club. During that time, both of them were working as assistants for fashion designer Giorgio Correggiari. The colleagues had a friendly relation and apparently used to discuss their future desires and goals.
In 1982, they both quit their jobs and started a designer consulting studio. During that time they had only around $1500 in their pockets. They also did freelancing for other fashion houses. Three years later, in 1985, the brand D&G (Dolce&Gabbana) was born. They got a slot to showcase their women wear collection designs in Milan Fashion show. In october of that year, they made their world debut in New Talent fashion show in Milan. Next year, they started men's wear line. In 1987, both launched a seperate knit wear line. In 1989, they started designing lingerie and beach wear.
With the increasing popularity, they opened their first ever boutique in Japan in partnership with Kashiyama Co. In 1990, they opened their women's collection boutique in Milan. After that, they entered in to fragrance business. Their fragrances were sold in shops of Italy, Hong Kong, Japan. Their clothes collection usually comprise of dark colors, with animal prints on them. Designing clothes is like writing a story for a movie for them. They create a story and design clothes accordingly.
Gabbana once shared in an interview that "Everyday life, inspiration can come from many things. but mainly it comes from observing what happens around us in the world, from observing people we meet on the street, in restaurants and clubs. A book, A film, A song...everything !" Towards the end of 1990, they had a sales of around $500 million.
In 1993, the duo designed 1500 costumes for a world tour 'The Girlie Show' of Madonna. This created a friendly relation between the designers and Madonna. In 2000, they dressed Madonna for her eighth album 'Music'. They also designed the entire backdrop for the album's tour. In 2010, Madonna collaborated with the designers to release an exclusive series of sunglasses called MDG. The company entered in to business of eye wear, watches, purses. In 2003, they had a revenue of $633.2 million.
Although, both designers achieved massive success they faced controversies for their ad campaigns. Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are known for their seductive yet traditional styles. With giants like Armani and Versace ruling fashion industry at that time, they had thier fair share of success and fame.
